Mantle Across a Starry League
by Reichenfaust
Summary: Megaverse. A grand vision, on how Mass Effect, and others will be affected by a humanity forged from the influences of 1980's-2000's Sci-Fi and such. Prepare for BattleMech's, Powered Armour's, Fusion, Energy Weapons, Psychics, Magics, and more. How will the Citadel deal with a humanity that has seen and has Cyborgs, Super-Soldiers, BattleMech's, WarShips, with more to come?
1. Chapter 1

**Mantle Across a Starry League**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any franchises that appear within. They belong to their respective creators and owners.

 **Summary:** So, this started as just a small crossover, then I began adding nearly every other idea I've had for many fiction's. Sci-Fi that is. Originally, I was going to just make it BattleTech and Halo first, developing the nations of humanity with both the technological potential of both stories, and expanding into the stars at the speed that Humanity does in MechWarrior(which is fucking FAST).

Then, it would head to Mass Effect, where I would proceed to whup the Citadel Council's sorry ass. Of course, it evolved completely from there, and into what I am about to share. This began as a Timeline, and then I thought about how it would look like if I did it in the style of something like the Star Wars: The Old Republic timeline entries. Noting a possible date, or event, and relate it to the present in a mysterious way.

I am excited, as this is the culmination of a lot of work, and it took a lot to make this work at all. So, please don't look at it as a mishmash of fiction, that is just thrown together and won't work. I do happen to have ideas, and have added original content to the timeline already. The thing is with my stories, I just prefer to world-build first.

Many thanks to **DragonheartODST** for inspiration from his original idea, but he is sticking to a different path then I want to take. Even at the start, I wanted to include some different parts of certain scifis, when he took a different route. If you haven't read his fiction, _**"Book One: Dawn of a New Age"**_ , I highly recommend it, just for the sheer scifi fun.

As well, he is following the Halo: Reach game, and I have absolutely no intention of allowing that to happen in my story. As far as I'm concerned, _**The Fall of Reach**_ , and **Bungie** are the Gods of Halo, and 343 made a new universe when they made Halo Wars, and had you fighting Brutes, and Elites waaaaaaay before they were supposed to appear.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this first set of timeline entries. It will eventually get to regular story, I just wanted a direct way to introduce you to nations, events, groups, and even tech, without using a long timeline that is bare minimum. So, I decided upon a military-style memo system, which would have a lot of identifying marks

As the narrator for the Star Wars:The Old Republic entries is General Shepherd(seriously, it's General Shepherd from the second Modern Warfare), my narrator is/would be Mako from Conan the Barbarian.

 **Chapter 1-Annals of the Galactic Archaic Age**

" _Nothing is impossible to him who will try."-Alexander the Great_

 _ **~Timeline Entry 1~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of General Shepherd; Task Force 141-Spartan Branch; Epsilon Indi; Terran Hegemony**

 **TO:** **Office of the Arbiter; Sangheilios; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; CYBERTRONIAN; GALACTIC HISTORY; DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 20,000,000,000 BCE**

20 billion BCE is the first known date of significance in the recovered codex, we have placed within the Star League's library. One haunting, and legendary line of dialogue is associated with the findings from this period, our scientist's were able to uncover.

"Before Cybertron was, Vector Sigma was".

Around this time, a being of unknown power was said to have activated a special circuit key, allowing the attachment of a multiversal connection node to the _**"Vector Sigma Gestalt"**_. An ancient and powerful super-computer, which exists across multiple universes, it is collectively networked, is certainly a force to be reckoned with.

I cannot even begin to tell you the implications this has for both of our societies. We have encountered the Cybertronian's before, and Vector Sigma has been a problem in the past. The reason I have not apprised you of their existence is twofold.

The information was classified at such a level, even I had trouble accessing it.

Apparently, the Cybertronian's erased their evidence of any conflict from our minds, and took technological evidence relating to their construction from humanity as a whole when we first encountered them. This will be elaborated on in further memo's from other department heads, if they have not already made their way to your office, I'm sure.

 **Regards, General William Shepherd,**

 **Task Force 141-Spartan Branch,**

 **Epsilon Eridani, Terran Hegemony**

 _ **~~Timeline Entry 2~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Field Marshall Ironside; MI6-Knight Branch; Federated Suns**

 **TO** **: Office of Romano Liao; Maskirovka; Monkey Branch; Ward; Capellan Confederation;**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; CYBERTRONIAN; GALACTIC HISTORY; RECOVERED EVIDENCE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 13,800,000,000 BCE**

In line with the Terran policy of sharing archaeological evidence, and as part of rapprochement with our neighbours, the First Prince has urg- Ordered me to send these documents to your office, so the Chancellor may be aware of certain things, regarding the nature and history of the Cybertronian's. Apparently, they are far older then they have said they are.

This latest find proves their earliest history. 13.8 billion years before the common era. The Big Bang. As well, the recovered data has shown that _**"Near the beginning of the Universe"**_ , an entity known as **Primus** came into being, opposing the first one to exist, **Unicron**. Unicron wanted to rule the universe, as he was the first to exist, and therefore styled himself as its God, viewing every living thing as below him. Failing that, he would remake it in his image. Primus fought for all sentient life, and sought to stop Unicron.

Their fight rampaged across the early universe, disturbing the energies that the swirling and young existence of the universe was made of. Sectors were razed, others were warped with so much energy expended they became black holes as they collapsed inwards on themselves, while others changed and mutated from the bleed-off of the shockwaves, as these Titans fought for control of everything. Eventually, though, Primus brought Unicron to a stop, in a small system, at the centre of a young Galaxy.

Primus trapped Unicron and himself into planetoids. Unicron reformed his physical form into a being that can transform between robot and planet modes. Primus gave up his life, and infused the planetoid with his spirit and power, creating a race of beings that could resist and defeat Unicron while also creating the planet Cybertron. Apparently, the planet laid dormant until Oracle awakened it though, as none of the original Primes knew about it.

The _13 First Primes_ were created from this event, including Prima and Megatronus, The Fallen. The Fallen betrayed his brothers and sought out Unicron. This was the extent of the evidence recovered regarding the earliest days of the race known as Cybertronian's. I think it is extremely disturbing that they were birthed by beings that can shatter star systems, collapse reality into black holes, and create life. The threat rating something like Unicron would possess, should he return to known space, would be astronomical.

This was the catalyst for the First Prince, Director-General, and others to share this intelligence. Use it well, and may the Chancellor act efficiently and accordingly. Personally, I would prefer to see the Capellan Confederation burn in the blazes below Avalon, but it is not up to me. We are rediscovering information on a regular basis that shows the Transformers have been among us for quite some time, so I have been told it is important to proliferate knowledge of how strong they are amongst the keenest minds humanity has to offer. Even if their allegiance is to another realm.

 **Hail the Star League! Field Marshall Ironside,**

 **MI6-Knight Branch,**

 **Pattonburgh, Federated Suns**

 _~New Entry!~_

 _FROM :_ _Office of ; MONARCH; Solomon Islands, USA_

 _TO : __Office of CEO Wesker; Umbrella; Raccoon City, USA_

 _REGARDING :_ _EARTH HISTORY; TITANS_

 _ERA OF FINDING :_ _12,000,000,000 BCE_

 _Our preliminary searches upon the Island in the South Pacific have yielded significant findings. We have canvassed a variety of caves, holding series of painting an hieroglyphs. They tell various tales, but we thought them fantasy until we met the creature known only as Kong, King of Skull Island. We have recovered dozens of bones from his families graveyard, and against all belief, they have been dated back nearly 12 billion years._

 _Billion, with a capital B._

 _This shakes our knowledge of what we know of the Earth, as from what our science can determine, the Earth was formed only roughly 3 billion years ago._

 _Once we shook our surprise out, we went to to the caves to compare the ages of the bones, to the carvings. I don't know how it is possible, but there have been enough to reconstruct the family tree of Kong's family, back to an ancient time. One, when gigantic beasts ruled the Earth, and had vast armies of their kind under their control._

 _We have labelled this as the "Time of the Titans"._

 _With my greatest regards,_

 _Dr. Houston Brooks, MONARCH,_

 _Solomon Islands Research Lab_

 _ **~~~Timeline Entry 3~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of the Arbiter; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **TO** **: Office of the Wise Master; Arashikage; Gravenhage; Draconis Combine**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; LEVIATHANS; GALACTIC HISTORY; SYNTHETICS; EEZO**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: UNKNOWN-BETWEEN 13.8 and 1,000,000,00 BCE**

One of our more daring archaeological teams found this. It seems as though there are greater things going in the galaxy, past the Orion Arm.

Between the time of the Big Bang, when the _Primus-Unicron Conflict_ occurred, and 1 billion BCE, a race known as the Leviathans dominated the Milky Way galaxy. They did this by enthralling every sentient race they came across and demanding tribute. Observations showed that races under the Leviathans created synthetic races that eventually rebelled and destroyed their creators.

In order to prevent this, the Leviathans created an AI simply called _The Intelligence_. The Intelligence constructed an army of 'pawns' to gather the genetic and cultural information throughout the galaxy, but in time it too betrayed the Leviathans, using its pawns to slaughter them for their genetic material to create _Harbinger_ , the first Reaper.

The Leviathans then went into hiding on a distant world, and chose to remain there until the day The Reaper's are eventually defeated. Thus began the cyclical harvest of the galaxy's intelligent organic life by the Reapers, part of a vast experiment conducted by The Intelligence to fulfill its mandate.

The Intelligence built the Mass Relays and the Citadel Network to increase the efficiency of the cycles, allowing galactic civilization to develop faster and more consistently between harvests while restricting these target species within one specific technological branch, by one wonder element that solved most technological problems, Element Zero.

Around 1 billion BCE the Leviathans took down a Reaper-Leviathan of Dis. Its corpse came to rest on the planet Jartar, where it hasn't been disturbed for nearly a billion years. The site has been marked for multi-nation expedition once someone expands into that area.

Our findings in the Precursor archives regarding the Leviathans, their history, and the Cycle of the Reaper's is highly disturbing. The fact that many races have failed with synthetics is worrying, are all races so illogical when experimenting with new and radical technologies? We may have imitated the Forerunner's, but we still based our intelligence's on our brain patterns to avoid rebellions, and made sure to treat ours as comrades in all forms.

As well, if this cycle is still continuing, and Element Zero is being used to artificially guide the development of species in our galaxy, they need to be warned. We won't stand by and let another races light be quelled by darkness it knows not.

 **Yours in honourable regard, Arbiter San'thum,**

 **Sanghelios, Sangheili Shogunate**

 _ **~~~~Timeline Entry 4~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of General Friedrich Steiner; HEIMDALL; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **TO** **: Office of Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey; ONI Section 0; Epsilon Indi; Terran Hegemony;**

 **:Office of the Wise Master; Gravenhage; Draconis Combine;**

 **:Office of the Arbiter; Sangheilios; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; PRECURSORS; REAPERS; GALACTIC HISTORY; THE MANTLE; DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS; RECOVERED EVIDENCE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 500,000,000 BCE**

A momentous discovery has been made by one of our teams on a remote planet. It is everything your – ahem – mother would have wanted the human race to discover. This is the data we recovered.

Another race, known as the Precursors, appeared in the Milky Way Galaxy from Dark Space around 500 million before the common era. Having travelled through much of the universe and seeded life, their arrival in the Milky Way instantly destroyed the Reapers' plans. In battles between the two forces, the Precursors slaughtered the Reapers and destroyed hundred of Mass Relays in an attempt to break the cycle.

Primarily, the relays in the Orion Arm, and the 'Inner Sphere', are destroyed. The Precursors establish the Mantle of Responsibility, and watch as other races evolve to see which will inherit The Mantle

Obviously, it is certainly fortuitous for us that the Precursors arrived in our galaxy. The human race, and several other species in the Orion Arm have been allowed to expand naturally – somewhat... My next memo shall surprise and astonish you, as soon as I can find it in the pile of outgoing I have, and send it through the next Hyperpulse burst.

To the Arbiter, and the Wise Master, this is the link as to why we never developed Mass Effect. Developing on our own technological path, we have invented things that these Element Zero, or Eezo civilizations would never think possible.

 **Good Day Sirs and Madame, General Friedrich Steiner,**

 **HEIMDALL,**

 **Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth**

 _~New Entry!~_

 _FROM :_ _Office of President Bill Randa; MONARCH; Solomon Islands, USA_

 _TO : __Office of CEO Wesker; Umbrella; Raccoon City, USA_

 _REGARDING:_ _EARTH HISTORY; TITANS; DINOSAURS_

 _ERA OF FINDING :_ _66,000,000 BCE_

 _We have now firmly established how the Dinosaurs came to be extinct, and what happened to their apparent rulers. According to recovered evidence, we have found that the meteor causing the extinction of the reptile elder species, arrived around 65 million years before Christ._

 _If this is absolutely, 100% the truth, what place does God have in our universe, and why did these beings exist before us? It is clear to me now, that we are the meek, as everything I have found pointing to elder species reveals they are ALL so much more powerful or advanced than we are personally. I hope that with my continued proliferation of this data, that we will be able to develop significant and proprietary defences for our people, so no men and women will have to suffer what the families of the USS Lawton went through._

 _I believe we need to put more research and funding into this now, more than ever, to continue expanding our knowledge of these phenomena and find counters. The ability these ancient creatures possess is harsh and real, as we have seen on Skull Island by both King, and the Devils of Below. Learning about them, will be our key to a proper defence, and protection for our species. I believe there is far more to Dr. Brooks Hollow Earth propositions, more than just the conflict we saw on the island._

 _I believe, that each group of the types of species we have found, all have an extended family they ruled over. So flying creatures would have their own, reptiles would have various, sea-creatures would possess the giant phenotype of their species. A theoretical yes, but one supported by the cave drawings we have uncovered, and they have rung true thus far when compared to the history of Kong's ancestors._

 _If we are not careful, these ancient species will take back this planet._

 _Good day to you,_

 _President of MONARCH, Bill Randa,_

 _Solomon Islands, USA_

 _~New Entry!~_

 _FROM:_ _Dr. Hermione Granger; The Adventure Team; Himalaya, India_

 _TO:_ _Knight-Commander Hadrian Potter; Number 10 Downing Street, United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland_

 _REGARDING:_ _ANCIENTS; ASCENSION; THE HOLY BUDDHA_

 _ERA OF FINDING_ _: 60,000,000 BCE  
_

 _I hope this finds you well Harry. Our expedition has made headway into the secret, and buried tomb. Once inside, we beheld a fair amount of carvings, and saw that the place was embossed from head-to-toe with hieroglyphs I've never seen before. The closest thing they come close to resembling, as far as I can tell, are Sanskrit and Cuneiform._

 _Once I had started to work on the translations, as I was concerned we had not found the place we were looking for, I was quite joyous to find that it was indeed about the Buddha._

 _Nearly 60 million years ago, the Alteran race of Celestis discovered how to Ascend as beings of energy, shedding their physical form. A philosophical split emerged in their race, and the two split off from one another, the Alterans leaving the Galaxy and others re-branding themselves the "Ori". They separated because they did not desire to go to way over their differences, still fundamentally clinging to a very mutable belief in non-violence, and this way they would not come to blows if they didn't inhabit the same nearby space._

 _A single member of their race put his energy into reincarnation, rather than Ascension. Having examined Ascension from many angles, and determined his experiences in life, he did not feel that he was worthy of the power that awaited him. Prompted even moreso into his thought-patters by the current tense parting-of-ways their race was having with former kin, he had recognized that evolved as they were perhaps the Alterans had a little more to learn._

 _Accessing the ability of reincarnation apparently was difficult at first, but the man was so determined that he broke through easily, and was sent into the cosmic Wheel of Karma. Yes, literally, he threw himself upon the wheel of the universe, to learn and understand mortality in totality. Conducting this transformation, he was reincarnated and began another life on a far off planet that had a feudal human society, as an underprivileged slave._

 _I thought you might want to have a look at this preliminary data, as you are always interested in finding ancient artifacts. Although, it is momentous to see how old the Buddha is, and see how his journey began, it is even more surprising that he came from a previous evolution of humanity. I wonder what else I will find out here..._

 _Best wishes,_

 _Dr. Hermione Granger, The Adventure Team,_

 _Himalayas, India_

 _ **~~~~~Timeline Entry 5~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner; HEIMDALL; Donegal; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **TO** **: Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey; ONI Section 0; Epsilon Indi; Terran Hegemony**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; PRECURSORS; ALTERANS; HUMANITY; FORERUNNERS; DAKARA; STARGATE; RECOVERED EVIDENCE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 50,000,000 BCE**

Here is the awaited follow-up. As you can see from my heading, it contains some fantastic data, but the findings support it. The evidence recovered, is amazing, as well as the technological relics.

Their recordings of other species, and the specifications for some of their designs... Wondrous beyond what many of our scientist's could imagine. Here's my notes on the archives findings. You will be invited to come in person if you believe me. There is a reason this was only sent to you. The Star League council is still deciding if they want to reveal the contents of this find to our 'allies'.

The Precursors that guarded the galaxy at this point, were pleasantly surprised to find Alterans from the distant world of Celestis, which they had seeded long ago, arriving in the Milky Way Galaxy. By searching the Alteran's databases, they learned of a philosophical split amongst the Alterans, which forced the more logical and scientific oriented groups to flee in an attempt to escape their religiously zealous Ori cousins and settle in the Milky Way Galaxy.

The Precursors left the Alterans be and watch as they settled on **Dakara** and other worlds in the Orion Arm of the Galaxy. Meanwhile, they also uplifted a race, known as the Forerunners, on the world **Ghibalb**. Both species were selected for the possibility of inheriting the Mantle. An Alteran scientist named Amelius created the first workable Stargate around this time, increasing communications and trade across the entire Galaxy. The Alterans also build a device on Dakara capable of seeding life or destroying it soon after to use with the Stargates.

From what I have discovered, and discussed with the scientific cadre present, the Stargate is a device capable of wormhole travel between devices, using a set of astrological coordinates. Such a device would be enormously beneficial to humanity. You can see why I am inviting you to partake in this find, despite knowing it will become open to the nations. I want you here first, as just like your mother, you are a specialist and gifted in Xeno-Sciences. The Star League needs to know what makes this stuff tick, if what I've been hearing about the Cybertronian's is true.

Oh, and yes, I've been promoted because of the find. Move fast, and glory can be yours.

 **Good Day to you, Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner,**

 **HEIMDALL,**

 **Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth**

 _ **~~~~~~Timeline Entry 6~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Outworlds Alliance Ship** ** _Liberty_** **; Office of Admiral Drenke; Outworlds Alliance**

 **TO** **: Outworlds Alliance Naval Command; Office of the Joint Admirals; Outworlds Alliance**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; UNKNOWN; REAPERS; ASTROLOGICAL DATA**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 37,000,000 BCE**

Sir, I'm going to be quick. We've found a derelict Reaper, it's clearly drifting, no power emissions, or signs of synthetics onboard. Observing all safety protocol's laid forward by the League's accords(with indoctrination now a well-known danger), we went ahead and approached until we were close enough to hack it's network with our AI. This is what we were able to recover.

An unknown spacefaring race fired a mass accelerator round at this Reaper near the planet Mnemosyne. The round penetrated the Reaper, disabling it, but it continues to move through space, eventually striking the planet Klendragon, and creating the geological feature known the _Great Rift Valley_ in a nearby nebula.

What more should we do with this sir?

 **Yours in service, Admiral Drenke,**

 **OAS Liberty,**

 **Outworlds Alliance**

 _ **~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 7~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Professor Heber-Katz; Bio-research Div; Umbrella Corporation; USA**

 **TO** **: Office of Zhao Yun Ru; Biology and Nanotechnology Div; Tai Yong Medical; China**

 **REGARDING** **: HUMANITY; EXPERIMENTAL STEM CELLS; EARTH HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 15,000,000 BCE**

I'm sure you know by now, that we obviously have evolved from other beings, in your studies. However, we now have a firm date of appearance for the ancestor of humanity on **Earth** , with this find. It shall aid the Megabiocorporations in a wave of new prosperity, and it proves that science is the truth of the universe, not some petty god who set everything into place 6,000 years ago. Samples are included in this package.

 **Regards, Professor Heber-Katz, U-Inc Bio-research Div,**

 **Umbrella,**

 **USA**

 _ **~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 8~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM : JOE COMMAND; Office of General Clayton Abernathy; GI JOE; USA**

 ** _INTERCEPTED_ :** **Illuminati HQ; Office of ██████**

 **TO : The White House; Office of the President Jimmy Carter; USA**

 **: FOXHOUND COMMAND; Office of General Graves; USA**

 **REGARDING : XENOS; CYBERTRONIAN'S; TIME-TRAVEL; TRANSWARP TECHNOLOGY; MISSION REPORT**

 **ERA OF FINDING : 12,000,000 BCE**

Mr. President, I assure you, what I am about to report , is no joke. Let me start by first stating, that at this posting I have seen many things, and between them, our enemies, and our allies, I have learned not to discount anything I come across.

What I am about to tell you, is of the gravest concern. Recently, one of our heavy-hitting teams of allied Autobots went off the reservation. Completely disappeared. I was fairly steamed inside, but the allied commander, Optimus, was furious. He did not encourage in any way, singular expeditions by his soldiers. The reason being, I have learned, is our enemies like to ambush unwary parties out for strolls. What follows, is the sum of their mission report.

Apparently Oracle, a creation of Primus', and one of the Primes, reached a desolate planet at the centre of the galaxy around 12 billion before Christ, and changed it into a verdant world. He sensed that far in the future, a Transformer called **Tornedron** will be created to destroy Unicron, and will be created with the ability to absorb all forms of energy. Using _**Transwarp**_ _**Technology**_ , Oracle summoned **Grimlock** and other Beast Transformers from our present, to inform them of how to destroy this threat, and how to counter it's abilities.

The Prime called Oracle then allowed the Beast Transformers to see what was to come as soon as they left Cybertron for the future. The **Quintesson** migrated to Oracle's green planet, shortly after. Their _**First Great War**_ began here, with these actions.

They obtained Oracle's shell, the Matrix. Oracle, who has the ability to give robots life, is joined with the node to the Ultra Computer Vector Sigma. While the Quintesson used this safety key to awaken (in fact to re-energize the desiccated corpse of Primus) Oracle's world into the machine planet Cybertron, it also awakened Oracle's brother's, the other 11 Primes.

Slow in awakening, The Quintesson had time to mass-produce civilian and military robotic life forms, the ancestor's of the Autobots and Decepticons, as slaves. The first of these was named A-3. The time between the Quintesson takeover, and The Prime Awakening gives them breadth of space to experiment and attempt to create Trans-Organics as a fusion between robotics and organic life, but fail and then seal them deep within the planet.

The _**First Great War**_ boiled into a volcanic intensity, with all of the Cybertronian's rallying, underneath the Legendary Primes. Eventually they ended the Quintesson rule, after nearly a million and a half years.

The Beast Transformers returned to the future, and informed myself, and their commanders of what had happened, and what was to come. I can't stress enough to you sir, that we need to ensure you don't cut support from our program. Not with threats out there that can potentially manipulate time.

 **Thank you for your time, Sir, General Clayton Abernathy,**

 **GI JOE,**

 **USA**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 9~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: ██████████ HQ; ██████**

 **TO** **: COBRA; Office of Cobra Commander; Homer Jay Simpson, Springfield; USA**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; CYBERTRONIAN'S; THE MATRIX; STARSCREAM**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 11,000,000,000 BCE**

Yes, Cobra Commander, we know who you are. We know where you live, where your organization sequesters it's power, and where you launch your most covert strikes from. We can kill you at any time. We simply don't care to, as you are useful to our plans.

Here is some information, which your allies may find... 'Interesting'.

Around 11 billion before the common era, Star Sabre, and the other 10 Primes Awoke. They discovered their brother Oracle, and enraged at his fate – fused with Vector Sigma – they smash the Quintesson Ruler's, and chase them off of the planet.

"The Golden Age of Cybertron" occurred during this time.

Unfortunately, over the next 500 million years, one by one, the remaining Primes disappear. Eventually, the militaristic Decepticons(who desire monarchy, and empire), and civilian Autobots(who would push for democracy, and republic) warred against each other. The Autobots, who lack combat capabilities, are massacred. Many flee their home planet. The Matrix is passed as a symbol of Autobot leadership. The holders' memory and wisdom are collected deep within it, providing it with ancient knowledge and power as time went on.

The Cybertronian _**Second Great War**_ begins.

In order to fight the Decepticons, the Autobots develop the technology to transform their bodies. However, several centuries later, the Decepticons get the same tech. This, is the birth of _The Transformers_. The scientists Starscream, and Jetfire visit Earth for research purposes. Jetfire crashes into the Arctic and goes missing.

After many go missing, the Decepticons and Autobots declare peace, and settle into a Cold War, after fighting each other for a million years.

Do with this what you will, little commander.

Regards

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 10~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Cobra Commander; COBRA SECRET FACILITY #73; COBRA**

 **TO** **: Office of the Blind Master; Arashikage; Japan**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; PRECURSORS; FORERUNNERS; GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 10,000,000 BCE**

This may the message we ever send. Safeguard this knowledge, and use it as needed. You are one of the few I trust.

In Africa, there is an artifact. Inside, there are computers older than anything ever produced by humanity. That we know of. We found a great deal of Galactic Knowledge, to fill in the gaps of vast time we have unaccounted for in our universe.

Previously, a long time ago, the Precursors were the race ruling the Milky Way Galaxy. They oversaw a vast collection of species, including the advanced Forerunners, on **Ghibalb**.

The Precursors inform the uplifted Forerunners, that due to various reasons, their people will not be inheriting the _Mantle of Responsibility_ and may even be potentially devolved to a lower state as a precaution.

The Forerunners instantly strike back against the Precursors for unknown reasons and chase them beyond the Milky Way, to Path Kethona(Large Magellanic Cloud), where the Precursors are almost exterminated.

Those Forerunners that remain in Path Kethona regress to a lower technological state in order to atone for their actions. Both Forerunner groups in the two galaxies eventually forget about the war.

This will be pertinent in many ways, especially if we run into these aliens. Continue your agenda, push humanities technological envelope forward, we need to be prepared. We have the coordinates of **Ghibalb** , and ask that you safeguard it if we do not survive the coming battle.

 **Signing off,**

 **Cobra Commander,**

 **COBRA,**

 **COBRA SECRET FACILITY #73**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 11~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of General Graves; FOXHOUND COMMAND; FOXHOUND; USA**

 **TO** **: Office of Miles Dyson; Cyberdyne Incorporated; Canada**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; CYBERTRONIAN; DECEPTICON; AUTOBOT; AI; MEGATRON; ORION PAX**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 9,000,000 BCE**

Recently, we have uncovered more information on the origins of the living machine-race known as the Cybertronian's.

Around 9 million years ago, while the Autobots, and Decepticons were at war, plans were under way to change the direction it went in. Deep within the bowels of Cybertron, the _**Emperor of Destruction**_ , **Megatron** , was created. This was done to combat the power of the Autobot Council. **Megatron** immediately set out, and killed the Autobot Elders Leader, in a brutal and public display in the next engagement between the Decepticons, and Autobots.

The Matrix of Leadership didn't chose a new leader, until after several battle's with Megatron, in which he decimated the Autobot Army. Alpha Trion guards it in a secure location, until a new leader can be chosen. During the last one, Orion Pax is badly injured by Megatron, and through the efforts of Alpha Trion, and the _**Matrix of Leadership**_ , the _**Last of the Primes**_ is born. Optimus Prime arises to command the Autobot armies, and in the first of many battle's with Megatron, fights him to a stalemate. This allowed the Autobots breathing room, and the ability to regroup and become the faction we eventually encountered.

One capable of vast technological feats, full of advanced secret's, and shrouded in much mystery. Nonetheless, they are our allies against the Decepticons, and other threats, as they would see us enslaved.

The _**Third Great War**_ begins between Primes Autobots, and Megatrons Decepticons.

If you can Miles, I need you to look into getting scans of Optimus's spark, and Megatron's. If possible, and safe, so we can compare them to your Positronic AI's. It is necessary, since these two are even more advanced then their brethren, and are still alive. All the recovered history we have of any one 'Bot more advanced than the current leaders of the two Robotic factions, is dead or ancient history.

Megatron used a brainwashing machine known as Robo-Smasher to bolster his ranks. At the time, his victims include the **Constructicons** and **Omega Supreme**. As the war intensifies, civilian's who lack transformative abilities(Cyberdroids) flee, searching for a new home. These include the immigrants to **Paradon** after the _**4**_ _ **th**_ _ **Great War**_.

Megatron is a priority here, considering he has experience in re-aligning the programming of AI's. He may not see it as that, but it is vitally important we study what allows one machine-program to change and alter the perceptions of another. Lest a rampant AI turn against us, and launch our own defensive weaponry against each other.

 **Godspeed, General Franklin Graves,**

 **FOXHOUND,**

 **USA**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 12~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner; HEIMDALL; Donegal; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **TO** **: Office of Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey; ONI SECTION 0; Epsilon Indi; Terran Hegemony**

 **REGARDING** **: PRECURSORS; ALTERANS; FORERUNNERS; NEW XENOS; GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 5,000,000 BCE**

Following up on my last exciting memo, I have been allowed to send another by the Archon. Considering this pertains to Ancient Humanities history and development, I think the more minds we have on it, careful minds, but more nonetheless is better.

Around 5 million years ago, a few other species not heavily affected by the Leviathans, and Reapers soon rose to prominence, thanks to the Precursors guidance and protection. These species later establish themselves as spacefaring, interstellar powers, without being greatly influenced by any of the aforementioned powers. More about these species is being uncovered everyday, but we know they came into contact with the Alterans and Forerunner's at some point. The nature of their contact is still unknown. I will see to it that we keep this dialogue open for the sake of the Star League, and humanity.

They are the Asgard, Nox, and Furlings.

 **A Good Evening to you, Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner,**

 **HEIMDALL, LCAF,**

 **Lyran Commonwealth**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 13~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of the Blind Master; Arashikage; Japan**

 **TO** **: Megacorporation Council; California; USA**

 **: Office of General Graves; FOXHOUND; USA**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; CYBERTRONIANS; INSECTICONS; THREAT ASSESSMENT**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 5,000,000 BCE**

Honourable allies, and honoured enemies, I present this information to you, so you can understand the level of game you are playing at. Organizations that are more powerful than you have tried to manipulate those who are currently in disguise, as your allied heavy weapons.

They failed, and they died.

At the time of 5 million BCE, **Godmaster** , and **Devil** **Z** , powerful Cybertronian's in their own right, came to the Earth. Godmaster broke into 8 pieces, and fell asleep with Devil Z as his _**Godmessenger**_ to watch over him. As well, the independent Decepticon team known as the Insecticons arrived on Earth, and decided to live in harmony with the planet, using food and elements as their fuel.

Should any of your allies ever try to gather these pieces, it may end the world, from the information we have discovered. Keep your enemies close, and your friends closer.

 **Good day to you, The Blind Master,**

 **Arashikage,**

 **Japan**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 14~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Thomas Marik; ComStar; Crawford's Delight; Free Worlds League**

 **TO** **: Office of the Star League Court; Geneva; Terra; Terran Hegemony**

 **: Office of the Arbiter; Sangheilios; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **: Office of the Khan; Yurt; Unngoy Khanate**

 **: Office of the Wisest Colony; Nyseria; Mgalekgolo Supremacy**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; CYBERTRONIAN; BRANCHES OF CYBERTRON; RECOVERED EVIDENCE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 4,000,000 BCE**

My hallowed allies, and fellow beings of the Orion Arm... We have discovered evidence on the Combined-Powers Terran dig-site, we deemed immediately necessary for dissemination. As all **FWL** personnel send reports to my office, I have bypassed the Captain-General in this one case. However, we need this out as soon as possible.

Around 4 million before the common era, _**The Ark**_ , and _**The Nemesis**_ crash-landed on **Terra** , then called **Erde-Tyrene.** The resources on Cybertron dried up, so an Autobot space exploration team was led by Optimus Prime aboard their ship _**'The Ark'**_. Megatron naturally pursued Prime like a rabid animal, with the Decepticon warship _**'The Nemesis'**_. Both are pulled in by Earth's gravity and crash. The Transformers enter a long period of stasis lock.

A group of Transformers led by Fortress escape Cybertron in search of a new haven. They travelled to the desolate planet Master. The StarShip _Brave Maximus_ , which has been travelling throughout time, crashed on **Planet Master**. Fortress uses it to refine his _"Headmaster Theory"_ , and builds the massive Battleship Maximus. However, shortly afterward, Brave Maximus was stolen and Fortress left very confused.

The Cybertronian _**Third Great War**_ dies down with the removal of significant leaders in each faction.

This is the first bit of evidence recovered from the site, and I am getting more by the hour... Be ready for another Hyperpulse burst in a bit.

 **I beg your patience, Thomas Marik,**

 **ComStar,**

 **Crawford's Delight, Free World's League**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 15~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Thomas Marik; ComStar; Crawford's Delight; Free World's League**

 **TO** **: Office of the Star League Court; Geneva; Terra; Terran Hegemony**

 **: Office of the Arbiter; Sangheilios; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **: Office of the Khan; Yurt; Unngoy Khanate**

 **: Office of the Wisest Colony; Nyseria; Mgalekgolo Supremacy**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; CYBERTRONIAN; BRANCHES OF CYBERTRON; TIME-TRAVEL; TRANSWARP TECHNOLOGY; RECOVERED EVIDENCE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 3,000,000 BCE**

Now, this information may seem spotty, and outright strange, but this is the craziness we are dealing with when it comes to the Cybertronian Technologies, and Races. All I'm about to tell you is from recovered archaeological findings.

Around 3 million years before the common era, next-generation Autobots and Decepticons, known as The Maximals and Predacons, come from the future via _Transwarp Technology_ , and scan the animals of Earth in order to transform into them. This shows the massive capabilities of Transwarp, and it's application to time-displacement/travel.

 _The Beast Wars_ begin.

The immortal life force of Starscream, who died in the future of 2005, crosses time and space to reach Erde-Tyrene. He possesses a Predacon and attempts to take over, but fails. He returns to being a ghost, and vanishes into the far reaches of time and space.

A dimensional fissure, the _Blasty Zone_ , forms. Optimus Primal and the Predacon Megatron are transported to the year 2004(CE). Autobots and Decepticons traverse dimensions and battle the Beast Warriors.

Due to the Maximals', and the Predacons' interference in the Vok experiment on Earth, the Vok begin to terraform the planet. Optimus Primal sacrifices his life to stop this. As a result, Earth loses its second, mechanical moon, and a _Quantum_ _Surge_ is generated.

Humanity's ancestor's are born around this time, so the Cybertronian's say. However, from the recovered Alteran data-banks, we know different. This species may have been utilized by The Librarian, at some point. The Maximals assist in their evolution.

 **Ravage** is sent from the future to kill everyone. He captures the Predacon Megatron, but is swayed to the Predacon side by a message from _the Decepticon Emperor of Destruction himself._ He sets about helping Megatron in his objective's,whatever they may be. It is not enough, however, and he is destroyed by **Rattrap** sabotaging his WarShip.

In the volcano, which will later come to be known as Mount St. Hilary, the Predacon Megatron unearths _**The Ark**_ and attacks the original **Optimus Prime** , in an attempt to change history. As a result, a timestorm occurs, but Optimus Primal stops it. The Maximals then capture Predacon Megatron and return to the future.

My friends, these beings nearly shattered _**TIME ITSELF**_ , in their foolish feuds. You must be wary when associating with them, should they reveal themselves in the near future. I am not saying we should be reactionary, as I have always looked to spirituality for guidance, and to react with genocide is anathema to me. However... As my Capellan friends and their Chinese ancestor's would say...

" _ **Trust, but verify."**_

 **Cheers, Thomas Marik,**

 **ComStar,**

 **Crawford's Delight, Free World's League**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 16~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Zhao Yun Ru; Biology and Nanotechnology Div; Tai Yong Medical; China**

 **TO** **: Office of Professor Heber-Katz; Bio-research Div; Umbrella Corporation; USA**

 **REGARDING** **: HUMANITY; EXPERIMENTAL STEM CELLS; GENUS HOMO; EARTH HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 2,800,000 BCE**

I enjoyed your previous package, and the proto-human cultured cell's lead to many... Projects. As a return-in-kind, I have funded a dig in a valley thought to have the earliest example's of humanity, _Genus Homo_. There are some other concerning things however, that seem to be in this place, that we noticed.

Autobot City, is extremely close to this area, overlooking it from a local mountain.

 **Regards, Zhao Yun Ru, CEO-TYM(Head Bio-research Div),**

 **Tai Yong Medical**

 **Hengsha, China**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 17~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of General Graves; FOXHOUND; USA**

 **TO** **: Office of the President Ronald Reagan; Office of the Joint Chiefs; USA**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; CYBERTRONIAN; TIME-TRAVEL; EXOTIC ENERGIES; THREAT ASSESSMENT**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 2,000,000 BCE**

Good day Sirs, Ma'ams, Ladies, and Gentlemen. This memo is being circulated through the new chain of command to let you know of the potential threat we face from our enemies, and why the President did his deal with the Megacorporations. So, here is the full load.

In the late 2000's, the _**Sparkbots**_ travel back to nearly 2 million before the common era. Before anyone says we should preemptively strike them, their antics has nearly caused fractures in the space-time continuum before. The good thing is, that what, they were trying to do, was try to release the scattered energy of **Unicron** , who is also taken care of in the 2000's...

One of the original Primes, Oracle, follows them after detecting so many Transwarp signatures upon the Earth, and seals them, and the _**Angolmois**_ energy they are tying to release into our planet. He creates a portal through time and space, bringing the Brave Maximus to **Erde-Tyrene** , and giving him sentience as **Fortress Maximus**.

As well, having detected the timestorm from the _Beast_ _Wars_ , and meddling Transwarp technology, Oracle raises Tachyon fields over all Transformers, until they are destined to awaken.

This protected them from a myriad of Galactic Events, and Predations.

 **Maximus'** duty is to stand guard over the Autobots, Decepticons, and other Transformers that have come to Earth. Oracle enters his body, and devises several layers of layers of safeguards to control Maximus's activation.

Now, I will say this as plainly as I can. No, our allies do not control time. Some of their Ancients were known to have enormous power, and if anyone went to the past, they used that power to boot people back to the future, or seal them in the past. They have not been spotted anywhere in the future. They are moreso... Guardian's, and only intervene when the factions that wish us harm, appear to gain an advantage. Never revealing their total abilities, and never trying to lord it over any of us.

Still, these Cybertronian's are extremely capable of nearly any technological feat we have ever though possible, even the one's that look like magic to us. As the man once said...

" _ **Any sufficiently advanced technology, is indistinguishable from magic."**_

 **Thank you for time Sirs and Ma'ams, General Graves,**

 **FOXHOUND,**

 **USA**

 **AUTHOR NOTE :** Well, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this crossover. The main thing to pay attention to, is the era of finding here. This is the timeline of Galactic Events, regarding Earth, and any other important factions. Also, Easter eggs abound, from the names on the memo's, to their factions, to their nations.

I am being intentionally vague on when these memo's are sent, as you can tell there is loss and gain, even in this first chapter. If multi-crossover's are not your taste, then please avoid this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Mantle Across a Starry League**

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any franchises that appear within.

 **Summary:** Megaverse. What started as many, becomes one. Major Crossover, with elements from BattleTech, Mass Effect, Halo, Stargate, Transformers, and many others.

Many thanks to **DragonheartODST** for inspiration from his original idea, but he is sticking to a different path then I want to take. Even at the start, I wanted to include some different parts of certain scifis, when he took a different route. If you haven't read his fiction, _**"Book One: Dawn of a New Age"**_ , I highly recommend it, as it is the original story.

Now, we move on to the Galactic Classical Age. In which there are many other events, to be beheld and talk about.

 **Chapter 2-Conversations on the Galactic Classical Age**

" _Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth our powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered."-Daniel Webster_

 _ **~Timeline Entry 18~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Big Boss; FOXHOUND COMMAND; Spartan Branch; Epsilon Eridani; Terran Hegemony**

 **TO** **: Office of Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner; HEIMDALL; Donegal; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; ALTERAN; FORERUNNER; ASGARD; NOX; FURLING; THE ALLIANCE OF GREAT RACES; HELIOPOLIS; GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 1,000,000 BCE**

This is in regards to your back-and-forth dialogue with Halsey. We believe we have found the meeting place for the Alteran's, Forerunner's, and other species you have identified. Their central base for communing on matters of state, if you will.

Now, Director-General Cameron wants you in on this, hell, he's even invited that nut of a Marik, Thomas. But, I and several others will be the security from here on out at these sites. They are now considered Tier 1, not for blacklisting, but in importance. Should any one race discover us messing about with their artifacts, a messy situation could develop. We will be there to prevent that from happening.

Here is the recovered data.

The Alterans establish the Alliance of Great Races with the Forerunners, Asgard, Nox, and Furlings. Heliopolis is chosen as a site for a massive meeting place, between representatives from the five races. To ensure things are easy to understand for future races to come, and to aid in their development away from 'Element Zero', warn of the Reapers plot and such, they make a language based on the Elements.

The Alliance was dedicated to the Mantle, and watching over the more primitive races in the galaxy.

Although their intent is recorded as peaceful, we must always assess, and understand the nature of our surroundings. If these races meant so well, and were so dedicated to their Mantle, and preventing Eezo exposure to young races, then where are they now. As ever, we always must be in it for the survival of whomever is alive and allied currently! That way, we won't be weighing lives of allies who have helped us for many a year, or our population which has stood behind us countless times, at their expense so we may please a foreign power.

 **Regards, Big Boss, FOXHOUND COMMAND,**

 **Spartan Branch,**

 **Epsilon Eridani, Terran Hegemony**

 _ **~~Timeline Entry 19~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of the Arbiter; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **TO** **: Office of the Wise Master; Arashikage; Gravenhage; Sangheilios; Draconis Combine;**

 **: Office of the Khan; Yurt; Unngoy Khanate;**

 **: Office of the Wisest Colony; Nyseria; Mgalekgolo Supremacy;**

 **REGARDING** **; XENOS; SYNTHETICS; ALLIANCE OF GREAT RACES; REAPERS; DECLASSIFED DOCUMENTS**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 998,000 BCE**

It is time to share with the rest of our allies, of the extent of information we know on the Reaper kind. To prove our willingness to share, we are giving the Wise Master a reason to share from his library, with the Khan, and Wisest.

About 2,000 years after the establishment of the Alliance of Great Races, the Reapers returned to the Galaxy, in another attempt to continue the cycle. Since the Alliance uses different types of technologically advanced fleets and weapons, compared to civilizations that used Eezo and Mass Effect, the Reapers are soundly defeated and civilizations that had been affected allowed to grow again under Alliance protection. The Reapers retreat back to dark space where they patiently waited for the day the Alliance would weaken.

Until then, they would go on raids to collect species who use Mass Effect technology, every 50,000 years. Most of even these raids were defeated by the Alliance.

Even the powerful and advanced Alliance didn't defeat the Reapers. Now whether this is from them viewing it as non-necessary, or not having the capabilities, I know not. What we do know is that the technological might of these races allowed them to wage a decisive enough campaign, as to have driven them out of the local Galactic space.

We know not if the Reapers evolved from this level, or consumed sample's from their enemies, so all we can do, is proceed apace, and walk side by side towards the future with our advancement. That is the way these races did it, with knowledge, enlightenment, and research. We can certainly do the same.

 **Yours in Honour, Arbiter San'thum,**

 **Sangheilios, Sangheili Shogunate**

 _ **~~~Timeline Entry 20~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Cobra Commander; COBRA; COBRA SECRET FACILITY #73**

 **TO** **: Office of the Blind Master; Arashikage; Japan**

 **REGARDING** **: ALTERAN; HUMAN HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 750,000 BCE**

More information has been recovered than I thought possible, in the time we had left. They are coming.

750,000 years ago, the Alterans detected a pattern in the Cosmic Background Radiation of the universe, that wasn't naturally occurring. They proceed to send out seed ships to put down new Stargates across the universe. Then they sent their most advanced ship, Destiny, out to explore the reason for the message. The Alteran's waited nearly 650,000 years, and crew Destiny with 300,000 of the brightest Alteran's left at that time.

As I look at this data, I regard it with suspicion. For what reason did the Alterans wait that long.

 **Cobra Commander,**

 **COBRA**

 **COBRA SECRET FACILITY #73,**

 _ **~~~~Timeline Entry 21~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Protector Calderon; Carthage; Taurian Concordat**

 **TO** **: Office of Magestrix Sophelia; Canopus IV; Magistracy of Canopus**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; MINERALS; ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDINGS**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 598,000 BCE**

As races are being discovered all time nowadays, some living and some dead, I thought you might appreciate a chance to take a look back at something historical.

The Ancient Arthenn race flourish in the Zelene system, living on the planet Helyme until being destroyed by an unknown event that wiped out all complex life on the planet. They also maintained a presence on other planets in the system including Epho, which bears the scars of an ancient orbital bombardment, and Gaelon, which may have been mined for Helium-3.

This system, should we discover where it is, is full of materials. For some reason, the dig we recovered had data-banks regarding many different mineral deposits, and the richness their systems abundance was blessed with. This may help us alleviate our concerns, with helping our nations stay powerful, advanced, and independent from the Great Houses.

 **Regards, Protector Calderon,**

 **Carthage, Taurian Concordat**

 _ **~~~~~Timeline Entry 22~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of the Blind Master; Arashikage; Japan**

 **TO** **: Megacorporation Council; California; USA**

 **: Office of General Graves; FOXHOUND; USA**

 **: Office of President Reagan; The White House; USA**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; CYBERTRONIANS; DECLASSIFED DOCUMENTS; THREAT ASSESSMENT; GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 500,000 BCE**

Once again, I find myself allowing children to have valuable information, so they will not destroy themselves. Remember what I have tried to tell you about the Cybertronian's, and their capabilities.

500,000 years ago, Deathsaurusbegan a quest to become the next _Emperor of Destruction_ of the Decepticons. Throughout this, he realized that to outdo, and possibly defeat Megatron when he returned, he would need loyal armies, and weapons of great power.

Through unknown means, he creates the Planet-Destroying Fortress, and rampages throughout Transformer space, before his machine is stopped, by a young Autobot named Star Sabre. The extent which he and his fellows went to, taking down Deathsaurus are not known at this time, just that they sealed him in the gravity well of a 'dark nebula'.

The **_Fourth Great War_** began with this opening manoeuvre, as Deathsaurus began a bitter conflict with the likes of a reawakening original Prime, and matched him with the great powers he was born with. Their fighting was some of the most intense in the Transformers history, surpassing even the Megatron conflict, as the Autobots became a little harsher under the increasingly militaristic Star Sabre and Dai Atlas, while the Decepticons flourished in strength and number under the unique, intelligent, and ruthless Deathsaurus.

 **Good day to you, The Blind Master,**

 **Arashikage,**

 **Japan**

 ** _~~~~~~Timeline Entry 23~~~~~~_**

 **FROM** **: Office of Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner; HEIMDALL; Donegal; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **TO** **: Office of Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey; ONI Section 0; Epsilon Indi; Terran Hegemony;**

 **: Office of the Wise Master; Arashikage; Gravenhage; Draconis Combine;**

 **: Office of the Arbiter; Sangheilios; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; ALTERAN; TACHYONS; CYBERTRONIANS; THE ALLIANCE OF GREAT RACES; GALACTIC HISTORY; THE MANTLE; DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS; RECOVERED EVIDENCE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 200,000 BCE**

As per the Archon's orders, I am fully disseminating information now, between our offices. Coordination will create success here.

In 200,000 BCE, the Alliance controlled the entirety of the Milky Way Galaxy. They attempted to uplift others to create caretaker species so that they can stand as equals with the Alliance members and take over should their parent races die off.

The Asgardians create the Solacris in their attempt to create a caretaker species. The Furlings uplift a species whose descendants shall later become the Goa'uld as their caretaker species. Finally, the Alterans begin uplifting a hominid species similar to the Alterans on Erde-Tyrene(Earth).

Finally, someone notices the crashed Autobot and Decepticon spaceships, and several other energy signatures on the planet making similar emissions. Even though they do not know it, it is the Spark's of Cybertronian's and the Energon running through their bodies. The Alteran's never have a chance to explore these artifacts, and sites however, as they discover large Tachyon Fields surrounding every location. Meaning the Space-Time continuum requires the un-tampered ships and their(?) equipment to arrive in the future, whenever they shall awaken, unmolested. Or bad things would happen.

 **This lead the Alterans in new paths of studies in the fields of Vacuum Energy, and Janus's Time Travel Experiment's. As well, the Alteran's inform their allies of the strange readings, considering their is nothing in their vast database covering the discovery(Cybertron is hidden from the Galactic view, somehow).**

 **Strange, no? Races that are able to defeat the Reapers, cannot decipher the mysteries of Cybertron, and they created many great works themselves. Maybe this is a clue to what happened to the Alliance...**

 **Good evening, Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner,**

 ** _HEIMDALL_ , _LCAF_ ,**

 **Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth**

 _ **~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 24~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Thomas Marik; ComStar; Crawford's Delight; Free Worlds League**

 **TO** **: Office of the Star League Court; Geneva; Terra; Terran Hegemony**

 **: Office of the Arbiter; Sangheilios; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **: Office of the Khan; Yurt; Unngoy Khanate**

 **: Office of the Wisest Colony; Nyseria; Mgalekgolo Supremacy**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; THE ALLIANCE OF GREAT RACES; THE GREAT PLAGUE; ATLANTIS; GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 150,000 BCE**

On Terra, there is a legend. About a civilization that existed before Egypt, and Sumeria, west of the Pillars of Herakles, a mighty nation that bestrode the world once. Atlantis. Now, we know it to be more.

In 150,000 BCE, a plague is accidentally engineered from the Solacris that spread throughout the galaxy. The plague devastates the Alteran civilization, killing off many and forcing others to either ascend to a higher plane of existence or blockade their own worlds from infected refugee's. Work on the new Alteran Capital of Vis Uban is halted, and the **_CityShip_ _Atlantis_** flees the capital of **Erde-Tyrene** for the Pegasus Galaxy with a damaged Hyperdrive.

The Asgard and their descendants slowly become sterile over generations forcing them to use cloning more often to continue propagating themselves as a species, but losing the ability to give birth naturally within the next 200,000 years. The plague eventually ends, but not before killing off one third of the Galaxy's population, and destabilizing the Alliance as a whole. A series of unfortunate events during the Great Plague causes a rise in tensions between the Alterans and the Forerunners, with the other races going into the beginning stages of isolation.

The fallout from this event once again, even in the wake of their failures, shows the power of these Interstellar Empires. The Asgard mastered Cloning to achieve Immortality. The Alterans shed their mortal coil, and rose as Energy Beings that had Ascended. The Nox hid their entire Empire. The Furlings vanished. The Forerunner's built so many great works and installations, it's a wonder they ever fell.

Events like this, must temper our resolve. Ever careful, ever cautious, but ever charging ahead and trying to safeguard the lives of those around us. Life and Technology are precious, and we can certainly do better if warned of the folly of the past. As long as we prevent irrational decisions with the choices we have.

 **Blessings be with you, Thomas Marik,**

 **ComStar,**

 **Crawford's Delight, Free World's League**

 _ **~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 25~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Thomas Marik; ComStar; Crawford; Free Worlds League**

 **TO** **: Office of the Star League Court; Geneva; Terra; Terran Hegemony**

 **: Office of the Arbiter; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **: Office of the Khan; Yurt; Unngoy Khanate**

 **: Office of the Wisest Colony; Nyseria; Mgalekgolo Supremacy**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; ALLIANCE OF GREAT RACES; REAPERS: GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 148,000 BCE**

This find was littered with important information, regarding the behavioural trend of the ancient races when confronted with immense pressures.

The Reapers once again attempt to invade the galaxy in the wake of the Great Plague. They are defeated, but the resulting war slowly divides what remains of the Alliance, with the remaining Alterans and Forerunners becoming far more militant, and slowly competing for control within the Alliance itself while the other races go further into isolation(Furlings), withdrawal(Ida Galaxy, Asgard), and pacifism(Nox).

This last willingness to stand by their comrades earned them some final respect, but the reclusiveness shown by their erstwhile allies only cause the Alteran and Forerunner factions that remained, to become more unlike what they once truly were.

 **Blessings to you, Thomas Marik,**

 **ComStar,**

 **Crawford's Delight, Free World's League**

 ** _~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 26~~~~~~~~~_**

 **FROM** **: Office of Admiral Margaret Parangosky; ONI Section III; Pollux; Terran Hegemony**

 _ **INTERCEPTED**_ **: Office of Thomas Marik; ComStar; Crawford's Delight; Free Worlds League;**

 **: Office of Big Boss; FOXHOUND; Spartan Branch; Epsilon Eridani; Terran Hegemony;**

 **: Office of Field Marshall Ironside; Knight Branch; MI6; Pattonburgh; Federated Suns**

 **TO** **: Office of Romano Liao; Maskirovka; Larsha; Capellan Confederation;**

 **: Office of Zhao Zhu Ru; Tai Yong Medical; Jia Tian; Capellan Confederation;**

 **: Office of Professor Heber-Katz-Wesker; Umbrella Corporation; Thermopolis; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; EEZO; DARK ENERGY; BIO-WEAPONS; ASTROLOGICAL DATA**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 125,000 BCE**

I have no stomach for treating with enemies of the state. But, further than that, I will not deal with enemies of humanity, especially those that lie in wait for our weakest moments. So, I would rather treat with another human, one who knows the score, than with someone I'll have to kill later, as an enemy of humanity.

Recovered evidence from the early sites, suggest that it is nearly impossible for Eezo species to rise to enough prominence to become threats to the Reapers. In fact, in the time of this event, 125,000 BCE, the 5 Great Races were still in charge of much of the Galaxy.

It was not the Reapers that led to their destruction. It was, internal, and external friction with species close by.

The ancient spacefaring races Thoi'han and Inusannon, seem to have fought over the planet Eingana, littering the planet with the debris of hundreds of starships. This bears investigating, as these races developed powerful Element Zero technology.

Refined Element Zero, scattered by broken drive cores, contaminates the environment. This causes many native species to go extinct, and those that survive to show a tendency to develop on the higher end of the scale in the pool of what comes to be known as, Biotic Powers. Fueled by Dark Energy, and accepted into the organelles of cells, a species which would evolve from the effect of hundreds of starships bathing it's planet would be powerful indeed.

As far as we know, this was the destruction of both races. That is not important. The experimental potential of such a planet is. As well, you are one of the... Few left in the entire Star League that would support an endeavour. I suggest closer coordination between our offices in the near future.

 **Admiral Parangosky,**

 **ONI SECTION III,**

 **Pollux, Terran Hegemony**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 27~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner; HEIMDALL; Donegal; Lyran Commonwealth;**

 **TO** **: Office of Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey; ONI SECTION 0; Epsilon Indi; Terran Hegemony;**

 **: Office of the Arbiter; Sangheilios; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **REGARDING** **: ALTERANS; SAN'SHYUU; PRECURSORS; THE FLOOD; RECOVERED EVIDENCE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 125,000 BCE**

Despite the fact that recently Parangosky decided to go off-hand, and focus on only one section of information in the _Combined-Powers Dig-Site_ (which was caught by the right people, and now I'm forwarding the proper information to you from the Star League council), we found information far more important, than her bio-weapons idealizations.

Here is more of the recovered data from 125,000 BCE, and strangely, Parangosky overlooks this, for the short term uses of the planet she discovered. Her arrogance and idiocy will bring about her downfall.

The Alterans come across the San'Shyuum and quickly forge an alliance with them, on their capitol world of Charum Hakkor. The delegation, which includes part of the ruling body of The Alteran Council, is introduced to the being known as _The Primordial._

The being informs them it is actually _The Last Precursor_ , and tells them of the true history of the Milky Way, and their species. How the Precursors observed the Alteran arrival nearly 50 million years ago from Celestis. Even for an advanced human species, one that has supposedly mastered Ascending from this plane of Existence, this was troubling.

Shaking up the Alteran delegation, they learned much more that day. So much that even their evolved brains could barely take it all in. Upon learning and informing the rest of the Alteran society, they settle into a cold war with the Forerunners.

This must come from the fact and knowledge that they now know of the war the Forerunners waged on the Precursors in the past, when they were raising and guiding species in the Milky Way. Apparently, _another species was to inherit the Mantle_. This of course brings many thoughts into the Alteran Council's minds, the least of which is not the idea that they could have been selected. There are other great species too, and the Alteran's are not arrogant. They primarily dislike the fact the Forerunner's lashed out against the ones that raised them up, when the Alterans would have stepped aside and let another become the Guardians of Life.

To the Arbiter, this is what I wanted to illustrate to you. The San'Shyuum have a tumultuous history, and have been allied with Humanity in the past. They forged the _Charum Hakkor Alliance_ in times far past.

 **Good Day, Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner**

 _ **HEIMDALL, LCAF**_

 **Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth**

 ** _~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 28~~~~~~~~~~~_**

 **FROM** **: Office of The Wise Master; Arashikage; Gravenhage; Draconis Combine**

 **TO** **: Office of the Arbiter; Sangheilios; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **: Office of James McCullen; MARS Industries; Amber Grove; Federated Suns**

 **: Office of Professor Heber-Katz-Wesker; Umbrella Corporation; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **REGARDING** **: ALTERANS; FLOOD; GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 107,445 BCE**

Wisdom will be needed in the near future. Such is the reason for bringing in more of the Civilian sector, as The Dragon has already given me his permission, and you will see the usefulness of Civilian Caste's, my good friend San'thum.

Near 107,445 Before the common Era, the Alterans came across the Flood. It slowly began to manifest as a threat through the powdered dust used by both parties of the _Charum Hakkor Alliance_. When the threat was fully realized, an interstellar war is waged to combat The Flood. However, the Alterans slowly lose ground. In a last ditch attempt, the Alterans sacrifice a third of their population that had been genetically altered as weapons to fight the Flood.

This suggests the Alteran's used their great acumen when it comes to genetic alteration, to defeat this new mortal enemy. As well, we begin to see the unravelling of the the wisdom the Alterans consistently use, when faced with the rapaciousness, and virulent capabilities of The Flood.

 **Regards, The Wise Master,**

 ** _Arashikage_ , **

**Gravenhage, Draconis Combine**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 29~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Admiral Parangosky; ONI SECTION III; Pollux; Terran Hegemony**

 **TO** **: Office of Field Marshall Ironside; MI6-Knight Branch; Pattonburgh; Federated Suns**

 **: Office of James McCullen; MARS Industries; Amber Grove; Federated Suns**

 **REGARDING** **; ALTERANS; FLOOD; FORERUNNERS; GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 106,945 BCE**

Your attitude towards old grudges is refreshing, it is good to know that there are those who ascertain threats properly, and understand that even as we move forward, trust is not something we can afford.

Case in point, this bit of data, from 106, 945 BCE.

The _Alteran-Flood War_ forced the Alterans to attack and purify planets under Forerunner protection, and by the time the Flood is defeated the Alterans have been too weakened to fight back effectively against the Forerunners, so many ships, fleets, planets and people had they lost.

Vindictively, probably as a result of their more militaristic mentality, the Alterans destroy all notes about the Flood cure so that the Forerunners cannot use it. The Flood however, merely left the Alterans alone as both a test for the Alterans, and a ruse for the rest of the Galaxy.

If even the great and wise Alteran's, whose society was supposedly base on scientific enlightenment, can be this much of a bunch of bastards... Then there is no telling how other Xenos will act. We have our experience with The Covenant as a straight example of hostiles. The Age of War before that. Everything else that humanity endured.

 _The Alteran-Forerunner War_ begins.

The Alterans sacrificed their population, their wisdom, and even their future, to secure the Galaxy against this threat. They knew, in this undertaking, in this endeavour, they would have to fight the Forerunner's. Whether they would win or not... Was something that did not matter. They viewed the Flood as a corrupted facsimile of the Precursors, those they viewed as near-godlike in their Physical and Technological capabilities, so obviously they needed to be destroyed before they attained the power and ability their elders had.

We must discover the secret to this cure, even if it requires sacrifice. The thought of the Flood being able to destroy us, because we were not able to get over ourselves for the greater good of the species, and the galaxy, is a thought I don't want to consider. As you can see, it is enough to inspire me to contact those who once set their places of power upon Terra.

 **Admiral Parangosky,**

 **ONI SECTION III,**

 **Pollux, Terran Hegemony**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 30~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Cobra Commander; COBRA; COBRA SECRET FACILITY #73**

 **TO** **: Office of The Blind Master; Arashikage; Japan**

 **REGARDING** **: ALTERANS; FORERUNNER; CHARUM HAKKOR; ERDE-TYRENE; STARGATE; THE DESTINY; GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 106,498 BCE**

From our findings, in Africa, we have found more on the Forerunner. And on Ancient Humanity, known as the Alterans. I never expected any of this to pan out, and become what it has, but it may give me the ammunition I need to take on those who sit above in shadow.

Since the beginning of their war, the Alterans had purged all planets with Flood spores. The Forerunners had no idea of the Alteran plans, or their urgency. Considering they had been in a Cold War for a significant time, their reaction is understandable. They only strike back first, and don't attempt to communicate with the Alterans, assuming they want to destroy their preeminent position in the Milky Way.

Now after nearly 500 years of warfare, the _Siege of Charum Hakkor_ begins. The Alteran's activate a special Stargate transporting the 300,000 strongest, best, brightest, and youngest, back to Erde-Tyrene. This is through the Forerunner blockade, which is more than just physical. Their ECM prevents normal gates from connecting to other planets, so advanced are their capabilities. From there, they decide they will go through with the plan, and as such embark to _The Destiny_ , launched nearly 650,000 years earlier. It has by now reached a far off Galaxy, far removed even from their original one where the Ori now reside.

Accounts range, but the fact is that this battle went on for some time, with ridiculous amounts of ships destroyed, Precursor neural physics weapons employed, and insane ground engagements.

 **Cobra Commander,**

 **COBRA**

 **COBRA SECRET FACILITY #73**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 31~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of the Wise Master; Arashikage; Draconis Combine**

 **TO** **: Office of the Star League Court; Geneva; Terran Hegemony**

 **: Office of the Arbiter; Sangheilios; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **: Office of the Khan; Yurt; Unngoy Khanate**

 **: Office of the Wisest Colony; Nyseria; Mgalekgolo Supremacy**

 **REGARDING** **: ALTERANS; FORERUNNERS; DIDACT; PRECURSOR; SAN'SHYUUM; HALO-EVENT; GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 106,445 BCE**

It is time you know of the first time a Halowas used in anger. After nearly five years of constant siege, the Forerunner's turned from the Ur-Didact to the Master Builderto lead them to victory over their remaining enemies, without wasting time and resources. Despite the successful campaign conducted, Charum Hakkor is chosen as the testing site for the prototype Halo. Once the Didact returned with news of the Precursor within it's bowels, the weapon is fired immediately.

The Primordial/Last Precursor is eliminated, along with every bit of _Neural-Physics_ Technology that still existed on the Fortress-World. Janjur Qom was chosen as the second world to test the Halo at, and once all was said and done, both the Alteran's and San'Shyuum are confined to their homeworlds and devolved to base states.

Now, the old Alliance members, they tried to convince the Forerunners of the enemy they had faced down, and attempted to explain they had only done what is necessary. The truth is never revealed to the populace, and the races colonies are placed under the protection and control of the Forerunners. During this time, the Ur-Didact met The Librarian.

These weapons have been around for a long time. They have been used for the wrong purpose from the very start. If one looks into the specifications of their ability, you see that they do not purposefully target biologically material, but rather anything that can operate on Neural-Physics. Biological or Physical. One would say this is the ultimate weapon to point at beings like the Precursors.

 **Respectfully, The Wise Master,**

 **Arashikage,**

 **Gravenhage, Draconis Combine**

 ** _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 32~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

 **FROM** **: Office of Zhao Yun Ru; Tai Yong Medical; Hengsha; China**

 **TO** **: Office of CEO Wesker; Raccoon City; Umbrella Corporation; USA**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; FORERUNNER; CYBERTRONIAN; HUMANITY; ALTERAN; SUBSPECIES; RECOVERED EVIDENCE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 103,000 BCE**

I want to invite your company to my Dig-Site, in the Valley I sent information to Katz on. I'm discovering more sample's everyday, and I have a feeling that the Autobot's are hiding something. There is evidence of another species here on Earth, not a branch of Humanity, or Cybertronian.

Since your successful endeavours with General Graves has born fruit, I wanted to suggest we go further into producing a viable .

We were allowed access (eventually), after months of requests, to study the time-period of the carvings (and that time only), in the Autobot computers. It turns out, a species known as the Forerunner's was here around 103 thousand years before the common era. The Autobot Computer, _Telertraan 1_ , communed with the being, as it seemed to study, and interact with humans in the Valley, and those who had been put back upon this planet, after the recent war. It was known as The Librarian, and she (a female of the Forerunner species), had come to study humanities varied species.

How the computer was able to do that, without awakening the Autobots, I have no concrete evidence. Maybe it sensed the disturbance, it could have been told to interact with The Librarian, the Autobot Prime, Oracle could have left coding inside it to wake it up... I have some theories, and I will press the Autobots for answers, but they are being unusually mysterious about this, despite wanting to be helpful.

 **Regards, Zhao Yun Ru, CEO TYM,**

 **Tai Yong Medical,**

 **Hengsha, China**

 ** _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 33~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

 **FROM** **: Office of James McCullen; MARS Industries; Amber Grove; Federated Suns**

 **TO** **: Office of Field Marshall Ironside; MI6-Knight Branch; Pattonburgh; Federated Suns**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; FORERUNNER; CYBERTRONIAN; TACHYONS; GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 100,745 BCE**

How're you doing today, ole' Ironguts? With the pleasantries out of the way, we can get down to business.

We now have a firm date for when the Forerunner's finally came into contact with the xeno-virulent Flood. Their arrogance is their folly, as they lose much at the start, and even as they realize how dangerous the damn thing is, they don't know that the bugger's decisively outnumber them now.

As the Forerunners lose more ground to the Parasite, they resort to more drastic measures, until the Ecumene Council approves the Builders Proposal to utilize the planned _Halo Array_. 12 Rings, with vast, unfathomable power, are designed and created by the massive Forerunner Fabricator, _The Ark_ (not to be confused with the Cybertronian ship), to wipe out all life in sentient organic life in the galaxy.

The other advanced races in the galaxy find out about Halo and prepare for the worst by evacuating numerous species beyond the Galaxy. The stasis-locked Cybertronian's on Earth are protected from a Halo-Event because of stasis lock maintaining their Sparks in a separate dimension, and the Tachyon field protecting their locations.

We have not been able to understand or figure out how the Titans resisted the Halo Event, but some of my subordinates say it may be currently beyond our understanding. This is a given, considering the Titans had no technological remnants, that we know of. However, we have yet to search the access point at the Skull Island entrance to the Inner Earth, and should keep searching just as Bill Randa had stated multiple times.

These races, through various abilities, were strong enough to resist the Halo-Event.

 **Afternoon, James McCullen,**

 **CEO, MARS Industries,**

 **Amber Grove, Federated Suns**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 34~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Thomas Marik; ComStar; Crawford's Delight; Free Worlds League**

 **TO** **: Office of Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey; ONI SECTION 0; Epsilon Indi; Terran Hegemony**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; FORERUNNER-FLOOD WAR; HALO; ANCILLA; GRAVEMIND; PSYCHICS; GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 100,495 BCE**

Such exciting data! Here we have some extreme examples of the Flood nearly acting like the Precursors.

At 100,495 BCE Forerunners created a powerful _Ancilla_ , called 032 Mendicant Bias to combat the Flood threat. The Halos weren't ready, and everyday ground was lost. This was seen as a way to quarantine and contain what seems to be hivemind, that disturbingly acts like the Primordial. This is based on reports presented to the Ecumene Council by bot the Iso-Didact and Ur-Didact, and his companions. They say that this beast has the telekinetic power to detonate suns. It designates itself "The Gravemind".

Mendicant Bias would instead start communicating with the Gravemind which slowly caused him to go rampant, and convinced him to betray his makers. Mendicant decides to take Omega Halo away from Forerunner space, and starts secretly experimenting on the Forerunner, Alteran, and Human inhabitants while continuing to send false reports to the Ecumene. The Forerunner's focus turns to the _Maginot Sphere_ ,a piece of technology that will wall off the remainder of Forerunner-space from Flood-controlled territory.

The psychic power to detonate stars? We cannot possibly match that. No wonder the Alterans held the Precursors in awe, if they held such power in the physical plane. Considering these creatures have been linked to those of old, it is disturbing that one showed this potential. Heading off the creatures before they gain such might seems to be the only possible way to fight them, and extreme prejudice as well seems to be the only way to wreck their order of battle. We would need fanatical levels of fury, and mass numbers to overcome even the weakest Flood spore infection, from what I have come across. Honestly, we need to be better prepared, and have infection protocol's, countermeasures, and specific weaponry in place to defeat anything such as this, whether it be Flood or not.

 **Blessings of Blake be with you, Thomas Marik,**

 **ComStar,**

 **Crawford's Delight, Free Worlds League**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 35~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey; ONI SECTION 0; Epsilon Indi; Terran Hegemony**

 **TO** **: Office of Thomas Marik; ComStar; Crawford's Delight; Free Worlds League;**

 **: Office of Field Marshall Steiner; HEIMDALL; Donegal; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; FORERUNNER-FLOOD WAR; ANCILLA; MENDICANT BIAS; GALACTIC HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING : 100,475 BCE**

Be wary of new technological advancements gentlemen. Treat your AI as best you can. For they may become the greatest sword pointed at us. Case in point below.

Around 100,475 BCE, Mendicant Bias, now in league with the Flood, attacks the Forerunner Capitol of Maethrillian. The Iso-Didact takes full control of the Forerunner civilization, as most of the Council, and other factions were killed or decimated.

The Ur-Didact set out for unknown reasons, with his fleet, and flagship _The Mantle's Approach_.

 _Offensive Bias,_ a less complete, but more schooled in specific Cyberwarfare AI, is created to combat Mendicant at this time. More limited in his abilities in controlling things than Mendicant, he is far more effective at Cyber-Assaults, and saves lives as the Flood press their advantage.

As you can see, the capabilities, and variances in AI are just as many as flesh and blood beings. As they become more advanced, they will think, they will philosophize, and will sway from side to side in morals and opinions. Already, there are AI's that serve the specific function and will of the being they are attached to. Who's to say, that won't evolve into loyalty, and other things we can only think on.

 **Good Day to you, Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey,**

 **ONI SECTION O,**

 **Epsilon Indi, Terran Hegemony**

 ** _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 35~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

 **FROM** **: Office of Thomas Marik; ComStar; Crawford's Delight; Free Worlds League**

 **TO** **: Office of The Star League Court; Geneva; Terra; Terran Hegemony;**

 **: Office of the Arbiter; Sangheilios; Sangheili Shogunate;**

 **: Office of the Khan; Yurt; Unngoy Khanate;**

 **: Office of the Wisest Colony; Nyseria; Mgalekgolo Supremacy**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; FORERUNNER-FLOOD WAR; DIDACT; COMPOSER; REQUIEM; RECOVERED EVIDENCE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 100,447 BCE**

I have discovered an artifact, and accompanying data-banks, as to why the Ur-Didact left Forerunner space during their time of need. I speak of course, about the breach of the Maginot Sphere. Here is historical account of it's use.

The Ur-Didact returned 28 years later, around 100,447 BCE, with a new weapon to send against the Flood. These "Promethean Knights" were powerful, vicious, ferocious, without remorse or compassion, the perfect soldiers. Possessing few weaknesses, and a very efficient combat performance rate, they make few errors when faced with their enemy.

The Iso-Didact learns the truth of his army, and summons the Alliance Members to a quorum, one that hasn't happened in a long time, to discuss what should be done. Considering that Ur made such headway, he will be allowed to drive forth, and reclaim what he can. After he is used up, he will be questioned, and possibly imprisoned. His actions will decide that.

As the Ur-Didact leads his campaign invariably towards the Omega Halo where Mendicant Bias conducted experiments, the Alliance realizes his intent. In a show of strength not seen in an Aeon, they capture him, and the Composer before it can be used on the Alterans, Humans, and possibly Forerunners beneath the RingWorlds surface.

The large stock of unspoiled material proved to be too much of a draw for the Didact, and he chose to to turn the Composer upon his fellow beings. Such a choice is taken from him, when it became clear what he was going to do. They question him before a panel of the interstellar nations that still exist, and find he did what he did on purpose. Knowing full well, that humanity only purged the worlds they did, so they could destroy the Flood, he still held them in contempt. Believing that their base nature's was to be warlike, he thought to channel that through his new army, utilizing the Composer.

Such a wanton display of thoughtless arrogance, and waste of lives, are disgusting to this Council. Unfortunately, since Forerunner's are immortal once they go through their mutations and are paired with their armour, they didn't know how to imprison him without death. They did not believe in death, and the Nox would only join the council if their views were respected. So, they locked him away for all time, on one of their Shield Worlds. Which one, we do know. I am keeping a close eye on Requiem, though. He certainly got off lightly though.

His successor fights the Flood alone now.

This weapon, somehow digitizes physical beings, and 'reprints' their consciousness as a fanatical Warrior-Servant, that were only answerable to the Ur-Didact himself. Of course, the Promethean Knights were formed from the densest materials the Forerunner's had, powered by their most advanced micro-reactors, and used their most advanced weaponry. They also possessed Translocation abilities, making them capable of inserting and ex-filtrating any battlefield, or enemy complex.

 **Worth pursuing, and drawing contingencies against.**

 **Blessings of Blake to you, Thomas Marik,**

 **ComStar,**

 **Crawford's Delight, Free Worlds League**

 ** _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 36~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_**

 **FROM** **: Office of The Wise Master; Arashikage; Gravenhage; Draconis Combine**

 **TO** **: Office of The Star League Court; Geneva; Terran Hegemony;**

 **: Office of the Arbiter; Sangheilios; Sangheili Shogunate;**

 **: Office of the Khan; Yurt; Unngoy Khanate;**

 **: Office of the Wisest Colony; Nyseria; Mgalekgolo Supremacy**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; THE ALLIANCE OF GREAT RACES; GALACTIC CLASSICAL HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 100,446 BCE**

Honoured allies, information as to how our species survived the Greatest Plague, has been unearthed at the _Combined-Powers Dig-Site_. Information regarding the other powers of the galaxy, acting in a great movement operation, alongside The Librarian.

At 100,446 BCE, the alliance completed the task of saving as many species as possible from Flood infestation, and they take them to either the Forerunner Installations, or extragalactic space only they can access. The Forerunner's have many Line Installations/Shield Worlds, the 12 Halo's, and The Major and Lesser Ark, so they are able to save quite a bit of their race. However, they are not present today, so it is a wonder what happened to them.

The other races were more concerned, along with the Librarian, about Indexing and preserving the races that couldn't protect themselves, especially since the Forerunner's used their devolving tech so ambivalently when it came to humanity.

 **A Good Day to you, The Wise Master,**

 **Arashikage,**

 **Gravenhage, Draconis Combine**

 _ ** __Timeline Entry 37~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner; HEIMDALL; Donegal; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **TO** **: Office of Big Boss; FOXHOUND COMMAND; Spartan Branch; Epsilon Indi; Terran Hegemony**

 **REGARDING** **: HALO-ARRAY FIRING; ANCILLA**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 100,445 BCE**

We now have a firm date of activation for the entire Halo Array. All 12 of them were fired in the year 100,445 before the common era. This was the description we pulled from the computer data-banks.

The Halo Array is activated, destroying all sentient organic life, capable of sustaining the Flood to survive throughout both the Milky Way and Path Kethona. The Pulse performs better than expected, and obliterates the organic material the parasite is formed from. Without Flood support, Mendicant Bias is quickly defeated by Offensive Bias and imprisoned. He is split into various parts, and as a metastable AI, all his does is cut his processing power.

Instead of being able to wield millions of ships, he becomes only able to wield a minimal few hundreds. But, that is more than enough, for the future. One of his copies escapes on a KeyShip to make amends to his creator's by helping Humanity, but ends up on Janjur Qom. This has unforeseen consequences in the future.

The Alliance begins to repopulate the galaxy, and when the whole operation is complete, the Alliance finally dissolves. The Forerunners move away from the Milky Way, the Furlings disappear, the Nox go into isolation and pacifism, the Alterans either head for Pegasus, Ascend, or are headed for extinction, leaving the Asgard as the last members to watch over the races of the Milky Way.

So, as far as we know, the Forerunner's could still be in Path Kethona, the Large Magellanic Cloud. As well, the Asgard are the only ones watching over us, as far as we know. Maybe Heliopolis will yield more secrets in the future.

 **Regards, Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner,**

 **HEIMDALL,**

 **Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth**

 _ **~End of the Galactic Classical Age~**_

 **Author Note :** So, second chapter well and done. These parts may come fast, as I've got most of BCE done, and none of the stuff I wanted to incorporate seems to interfere with anything this far back anymore. Again, intentional vagueness is the modus operandi here. In the future there many plots within plots, and humanity is fractured, but strong in cultural identity and development.


	3. Chapter 3

**Mantle Across a Starry League**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own franchises that appear within.

 **Summary:** Megaverse. What began as many, become one. StarCraft, Halo, Mass Effect, BattleTech, Transformers, and more will appear within. Can you spot them as they come?

One could say guys like **DragonheartODST** and I are obsessive. Think we are? Go check out "The Movie Timeline". It includes every movies events in chronological order, in one massive go. Quite interesting, if read in bits.

 **Chapter 3-Volumes on the Galactic Dark Age**

" _It is only through labour and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things."-Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt_

 _ **~Timeline Entry 38~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of James Lanning-Dyson; Cyberdyne Incorporated Headquarters ; Drachenfeld; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **TO** **: Office of Romano Liao; Maskirovka; Larsha; Capellan Confederation**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; FLOOD; DELTA HALO; STERILIZATION; MISSION REPORT;**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 100,227 BCE**

Now, I find myself in your debt, and thanking you for having your _**Death Commando's**_ accompany my _**Cyber Agents**_.

Despite their hard-sealed, reinforced suits, with all sorts of Myomers, Actuators, shielding, and protection, they were close to being eliminated. The Flood were just not anything they had been trained to fight.

I should have sent some **T-850's**.

Nevertheless, your Commando's saved the day, purging the Flood to a spore, and recovering the data. I'm relieved that you placed emphasis on building a working relationship with me, and had your soldiers go to the extent of backing mine up. I know you wouldn't normally do this for just anyone, so I ensured that the data was protected and sent out personally as soon as it could be. You warrior's will confirm I didn't tamper with it, beyond composing this message.

The failure in containment, that led to us needing to purge the Flood on the Delta Halo, occurred nearly 100,227 years ago. For some reason, this breach was ignored by the Monitor of said Installation, **2401 Penitent Tangent** , and evolved into an outbreak 3,000 years later. This placed it under quarantine for the next 100,000 years.

This became our problem, when learned this was in our path to the ███████ Sector. But it is cleared now - compliant with the accords set in place regarding Xenobiological-Infestation – for our teams to canvas. Regarding the edicts of the Council, no redevelopment of the Halo Weapon will take place, but the Phase Pulse Generators, and the Vacuum-Energy Core at the centre of it's power-grid are of particular interest to the Megacorporation Council.

If we can lead a private-sector revolution in power generation, we would gain more trust from the public, and of course profit.

 **Regards, James Lanning-Dyson, CEO,**

 **CyberDyne Incorporated,**

 **Drachenfeld, Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 _ **~~Timeline Entry 39~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of The Old Man; Omni Consumer Products; Salandor; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **TO** **: Office of Giles Darrow; Darrow Industries; Briceno; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; XEL'NAGA: KOPRULU SECTOR; REAPERS; RELAY METAL; GALACTIC DARK AGE HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **:100,000 BCE**

Now that the path into the Koprulu Sector has finally been cleared, we have been able to send survey and recovery fleets to the first system in reach. We quickly found an abundance of impressive technological remnants, that were... Made of Relay Metal, the theorized Hexangular Carbon Molecule's that are supposedly near-physically indestructible.

Considering our initiative has always boasted the strongest pound for pound armour, on any human alive, we seized this opportunity, and quickly entered the sites, trying to ascertain if we could break down these samples without rumbling any feathers. Turns out this isn't the first time it had been re-purposed.

From the databases we are beginning to go through, an alien race named the **Xel'naga** appeared in the Galaxy, around 100,000 years ago, searching for species containing the _**"Purity of Form"**_ , and _**"Purity of Essence"**_. Their intent is to uplift the species they come across, then unite with them to form an entirely new generation of Xel'naga.

They also formed the first large-scale Interstellar Government since the Halo Array was fired. While they do not make contact with any of the other interstellar races still in the Milky Way(Nox, Furlings), or those outside(Forerunners, Asgard), they do find remnants of the Alliance Civilizations and record whatever knowledge they glean from the ruins which is stored in their temples on several planets.

They also begins to shut down and dismantle all of the Mass Relays for materials that they can utilize, within the Koprulu Sector. This is to allow the races there to grow in peace without the threat of the Reapers.

Now, many planets in this sector are habitable, but abandoned. They all contain significant amounts of Relay-Material. There is only one reason I contacted you Darrow. Your the only one I can trust with ████Cop, and turning him into a next generation anti-commando. There are too many powers, and organizations out there running around with their own version of the Super-Soldier protocol's developed by our Council. Now, we can give the people a better chance to protect themselves, show them we do care for their welfare

 **Salutations, The Old Man, CEO,**

 **Omni Consumer Products Inc,**

 **Salandor, Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 _ **~~~Timeline Entry 40~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Antonius Jensen; Cyber-Uber-Soldenstadt Branch; HEIMDALL; Kowloon; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **TO** **: Office of Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner; HEIMDALL; Donegal; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; GOA'ULD; ASTROLOGICAL DATA; GALACTIC DARK AGE HISTORY; MISSION REPORT**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 99,000 BCE**

Our expedition to the provided coordinates from **Heliopolis** , has born fruit. We have discovered the home planet, of the ones who took over Heliopolis, and found where they originate from.

On **P3X-888** , the later stages of evolutionary development stages appeared for the **Goa'uld** , leading to sentience. Limited by their physical form, the larval Goa'uld adopted a parasitic relationship with other forms of indigenous life-including **Unas** , the largest predator on the planet.

Knowing this, we took large amounts of samples, and ended up with Goa'uld in various states. Some were very old, and further back on their evolutionary trail. Most were newer, but didn't have ████████ in their blood.

 **Sir, Antonius Jensen, Cyber-Uber-Soldenstadt Branch,**

 **HEIMDALL, LCAF**

 **Kowloon, Lyran Commonwealth**

 _ **~~~~Timeline Entry 41~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner; HEIMDALL; Donegal; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **TO** **: Office of Star League Court; Geneva; Terra; Terran Hegemony**

 **REGARDING** **: STARGATE; MISSION PROTOCOL'S; RECOVERED EVIDENCE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 98,000 BCE**

During one of their recent explorations, one of my teams came across this. Good thing I developed the travel protocol's myself for when we would use the Stargate.

Archaeological evidence shows that the world designated P5C-353 was dying due to the destruction caused by the Flood and Halo-Event. The large loss of organism numbers force the microscopic life that lived on the planet to create an orb in which they slept for 100,000 years waiting for someone to take them through the Stargate. Once exposed to the atmosphere of a living planet, they will awaken.

My safety protocol's, and insistence that every bit of personnel be outfitted with _ **Environmental Elemental Suits**_ has now paid off. After this close call, we can spare no expense on these missions.

 **Cheers, Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner,**

 **HEIMDALL, LCAF**

 **Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth**

 _ **~~~~~Timeline Entry 42~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Arbiter San'thum; Sangheilios; Sangheili Shogunate**

 **TO** **: Office of the Wise Master; Arashikage; Gravenhage; Draconis Combine**

 **: Office of the Khan; Yurt; Unngoy Khanate;**

 **: Office of the Wisest Colony; Nyseria; Mgalekgolo Supremacy**

 **REGARDING** **: SYNTHETICS; EEZO; THE CYCLE; REAPERS; XENOS; GALACTIC DARK AGE HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 98,000 BCE**

We found that during this time, after the Halo-Array was fired, the Reapers returned to attempt to continue their harvesting of the galaxy, that had failed for the past 500 million years.

This time they succeeded. Returning in force, through the Relays of course, they slaughtered all they touched. However, areas that didn't have Relays, avoided the Reaper plague.

Such a tragedy must not be allowed to occur. With our recovered knowledge, we should be able to collectively convince Mass Effect races to abandon the traps of their civilizations, and progress beyond that. It shall not come easily of course, but the more I see, the more I mourn for the souls lost in the initial conflict with Humanity. Any life saved, is a life worth regarding.

 **Peace be with you, Arbiter San'thum,**

 **Sangheilios, Sangheili Shogunate**

 _ **~~~~~~Timeline Entry 43~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Colonel Nukem; NEMESIS; Umbrella Corporation; Manua Loa; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **TO** **: Office of Professor Heber-Katz-Wesker; Umbrella HQ; Umbrella Corporation; Orion; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **REGARDING** **: ALTERANS; ATLANTIS; PEGASUS; MISSION REPORT**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 94,000**

Sir,

Our expedition to the fringe of Pegasus, confirmed the projected time of the Alteran _**CityShip**_ Atlantis, into that Galaxy. Dating of the Stargate, upon the world we made berth, is **94,000 BCE**. Now we just have to find the damn thing.

It appears then they began trying to rebuild their empire at a feverish pace, and restore their civilization to glory, before their light in the universe blinked our forever. They aggressively expanded from here, and built up many colonies during the time they were in Pegasus. We've found a map in the facility that is on the planet, and it will definitely take considerable time to trawl through them.

One thing is for sure, we now have an established(if shaky) bit of intel to guide us, and the Ancients were never ones to miss-record things. So, once again, we must use the eyes and ears we have been provided with to make sure what we find is the truth. The Pegasus holds many mysteries, and I'm hurrying the exploration along as fast as possible, to ensure our understanding outpaces whats out there. We will gain much from the Ancient technology here, referred to as Lantean during it's time, and I will make sure we recover scientific data as fast as possible so we can our testing.

We have discovered that during this time, three scientific minds were behind the rapid Pegasus expansion, allowing the rebuild of the Alterans glorious civilization. They were Janus, Moros, and Kane.

Before anything like our old enemies appear again, and take us for a swift ride.

 **Thank you for your time Sir, Colonel Nukem, NEMESIS DIV,**

 **Umbrella Corporation,**

 **Manua Loa, Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 _ **~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 44~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of James Lanning-Dyson; Cyberdyne Incorporated HQ; Drachenfeld; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **TO** **: Office of The Old Man; Omni Consumer Products HQ; Salandor; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; KOPRULU; XEL'NAGA; PSYCHICS; PROTOSS**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 90,000 BCE**

You old bastard. You couldn't be patient could you? No, didn't even want to ask for my help, because of my treating with a maniac like Romano Liao. Well, let me tell you something about maniacs old man(which you know full damn well about), it's easy to talk, cajole, and armour up someone before pointing them at something you need done, or gone.

The fact that I still do it for the Good of Mankind seems to have escaped you. And it almost wrecked your chances in the Koprulu Sector. Yes, you were almost detected while disturbing a Xel'naga temple. This species we both found information on, they treat the Xel'naga as Gods, much as the Covenant once viewed the Forerunner's and their Empire. Since I do believe in collaboration and cooperation with you, I took the liberty of sending my finest Cybernetic Soldiers to aid in the recovery, and ex-filtration.

Above all, I maintained the illusion of no foreign presence.

Near 90,000 BCE, the **Protoss** species of **Aiur** are chosen for _**"Purity of Form"**_ , and slowly uplifted by the Xel'naga.

Unfortunately, not all of them had altruistic goals, and the process was doomed from the beginning. Inside conspirators and all. A Xel'naga named Amon tampered with the Protoss species psychic link called the Khala to enforce his control over them at a later point in. Over time, the Xel'naga become frustrated with the Protoss change from communal unity to tribalism and attempt to leave.

The Protoss attack the Xel'naga for unknown reasons, and they lose many of the number. _**The Aeon of Strife**_ begins and the Protoss remain in a pre-industrial age for millenia due to the loss of the Khala.

Such psychic resonance this species must have, and if they have regained it, they must surely rule Koprulu, and they will be formidable. We still have no idea how far their civilization has spread across this area.

 **James Lanning-Dyson, CEO CI**

 **CyberDyne Incorporated,**

 **Drachenfeld, Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 _ **~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 44~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of The Old Man; Omni Consumer Products HQ; Salandor; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **TO** **: Office of James Lanning-Dyson; Cyberdyne Incorporated HQ; Drachenfeld; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate;**

 **: Office of Giles Darrow; Darrow Industries; Briceno; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **: Office of Big Boss; Outer Haven Foundation HQ; Farhome; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; KOPRULU; XEL'NAGA; PSYCHICS; ZERG**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 85,000 BCE**

You wield a convincing argument James. Very well, after careful consideration, you are to be included in our cabal. While we may be a part of the Council, they will inevitably use any thing that comes across their path for their own companies self-development. While not as greedy, and they still serve the people, they only serve their people. Too many in the offices of _**Umbrella**_ , _**Tai Yong**_ , _**VersaLife**_ , and others. _**M.A.R.S.**_ is not trustworthy as they are too entrenched and loyal to the **Federated Suns**.

I would like to introduce you two, to an associate of mine. One who has been maintaining the ship for a while, and is in a position of power-sharing with my fellow heads. The _**Outer Haven Foundation(OHF)**_ _,_ our primary enforcement and protection when it comes to our star-clusters. As well, we have discovered more information on the Xel'naga and their quest in Koprulu.

Around 85,000 BCE, Xel'naga come across the world of **Zerus** and uplift the Zerg race because they believe the Zerg have _**Purity of Essence**_ , creating an Overmind to unite them as a result. Once again, the unruly Amon tampers with the Zerg to use them at a later time to create his hybrids and destroy the Protoss. When the Xel'naga try and leave **Zerus** , the Zerg attack them, destroying the rest of the Xel'naga Fleet and breaking the Xel'naga cycle.

During the battle, Amon disappears, and is presumed dead at the time. Any remaining Xel'naga who survived, flee to the void. Whether they rebuilt their civilization in dark space, or another galaxy remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the Zerg Swarm leave Zerus and slowly spread across the Koprulu Sector. We have not encountered them yet, and we do not know how much of a _'swarm'_ they really are.

Of course, one of the reasons to introduce you to Big Boss on this communique, was to ensure you would be ready, and not caught unawares in case they are hostile to us. Preparatory readiness, and an alert attitude while going through Koprulu is best.

 **A good day to you, The Old Man, OCP HQ,**

 **Omni Consumer Products,**

 **Salandor, Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 _ **~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 45~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Professor Heber-Katz; Umbrella Corporation; USA**

 **TO** **: Office of Zhao Yun Ru**

 **REGARDING** **: HUMAN DARK AGE HISTORY; CATASTROPHICAL EVENT; RECOVERED EVIDENCE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **:** **75,000 BCE**

Many thanks for convincing the big bad W to allow an actual collaboration on that Valley. Disturbingly, we have uncovered evidence regarding a near extinction humanity endured.

The _Toba Catastrophe_ occurs which drastically decreases the human population to around 10,000 members at its lowest ever.

This is a bit shocking, but shows the resiliency of the human genome under pressure. Re-population into what we see today, from less than ten thousand? Difficult to imagine.

 **Regards, Professor Heber-Katz,**

 **Umbrella Corporation,**

 **Raccoon City, USA**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 46~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey; ONI SECTION 0; Epsilon Indi; Terran Hegemony**

 **TO** **: Office of General Jack O'Neill; Stargate Command; Kervil; The Star League**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; GOA'ULD; UNAS; GALACTIC DARK AGE HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **:** 73,000 BCE

More evidence is being recovered daily, but there will be more to follow. Lot's of reading material for you General.

During the climb from their swampy settings, a number of conflicts erupt among the primordial Goa'uld for the limited number of Unas hosts. Goa'uld unwilling to blend with common creatures vie for access to Unas hosts which eventually escalates into conflict causing the population to drop drastically.

This shows that the race, which was made with good intentions by the **Furlings** , evolved in such a wrong way that there is no redeemable qualities in them. If they were refusing to accept that they needed to share, and didn't even acknowledge their hosts, they were consciously stealing bodies from the start, since they have a genetic memory.

 **Enjoy, Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey,**

 **ONI SECTION 0,**

 **Epsilon Indi, Terran Hegemony**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 47~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Chandrasekhar Kurita; ISF HQ; Internal Security Force; New Samarkand; Draconis Combine**

 **TO** **: Office of the Wise Master; Arashikage; Gravenhage; Draconis Combine**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; PROTHEAN'S; CYBERTRONIAN'S; VOK; GALACTIC DARK AGE HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **:** **68,000 BCE**

Master, I have come across a finding not just a new species that used Mass Effect(to a great degree), but information on an enigmatic species known as The Vok. What does the archives of the Arashikage have to say about such beings?

Near 68,000 Protheans achieve spaceflight and discover Mass Effect technology from the ruins of the extinct Inusannon. They go on to establish a Galaxy-Wide civilization linked by the Mass-Relays, with the Citadel as their Capitol. They even build some relays of their own. At some point, the Protheans encounter a hostile race of machine intelligence's that endanger their existence.

To combat this threat, the Protheans aggressively assimilate many other spacefaring organic races into their growing Empire. The newly formed Prothean Empire is then able to fend off the machines in this...

" _ **Metacon War"**_ **.**

Can you answer the questions that will invariably be asked about this report, before the Coordinator sends it to the Star League?

 **Thank you for your time and wisdom, Chandrasekhar Kurita,**

 **Internal Security Force HQ, DCMS,**

 **New Samarkand, Draconis Combine**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 48~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of The Wise Master; Arashikage; Gravenhage; Draconis Combine**

 **TO** **: Office of Chandrasekhar Kurita; ISF HQ; Internal Security Force; New Samarkand; Draconis Combine**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; PROTHEAN'S; VOK; METACON WAR; GALACTIC DARK AGE HISTORY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 68,000 BCE**

From what I can tell, the recovered data points to one thing, my student.

The so-called _**'Metacon War'**_ is an experiment by the enigmatic Vok, although no-one knows it. The Vok take what they have learned from the Cybertronian's, from Optimal, Optimus, Megatron, Protoform X, Transmetals, even Unicron, and begin to produce powerful soldiers.

They create a race of analogue's to the original Transformers, the ' **Metacons** ', imbue them with the cunning, strength, and power of the Decepticons. While they also carry the nobility, steadfastness, and endurance of the Autobots. The Metacons are the best of both worlds, even if very generic, and underpowered.

Pressed hard, the Protheans are not nice about how they try to overcome the Metacons. Growing dislike for AI during their entire development, and open warfare proliferated the idea among them that the only good AI, is a non-functioning one. They continue to lose ground however.

Then, the Vok allow the Protheans to win. Sacrificing the visible Metacons, and transferring their consciousness out to new bodies, the Vok carry on. Satisfied, they have no reason to remain. Their experiment was a success.

What they gained, we can only fathom.

 **Be extremely wary my student, The Wise Master,**

 **Arashikage,**

 **Gravenhage, Draconis Combine**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 49~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Dr. Daniel Jackson; Stargate Command; Kervil; The Star League**

 **TO** **: Office of Zhao Zhun Ru; Tai Yong Medical HQ; Hellespont; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; UNAS; GOA'ULD**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **:** **66,000 BCE**

Given your firms history on dealing with biological archaeological evidence, I believed you could help with providing some insight into aiding the Unas population.

Near 66,000 BCE the Unas population begins to thrive again. Unblended Unas are found in remote areas, wary of parasites. Even in this state, the blended Unas are superior in every way, having developed social structures, a functional language, and tool use. Larval numbers, are artificially controlled through cannibalism to control population growth.

I believe, with proper tending and care, this species will become a contributing member of Galactic Society. However, I am not sure how to go about this, and even with the Star League backing us, we would need funding.

 **Thank you for your time, Dr. Daniel Jackson, SG-1**

 **Stargate Command,**

 **Kervil, The Star League**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 50~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey; ONI SECTION 0; Epsilon Indi; Terran Hegemony**

 **TO** **: Office of the Countess of Northwind; Northwind; Terran Hegemony**

 **REGARDING** **: FORERUNNER; ARTIFACT; THE COVENANT**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 57,448 BCE**

 _ **URGENT**_

Countess, let me be straight to the point. Recovered data has shown that a Forerunner artifact is being hunted in your sector, by Covenant forces. Here's the relevant information.

A meteor bearing Forerunner symbols crashes in the system that will be known as Sigma Octanus. The planet will become known as **Northwind**. The meteor will be discovered approximately 60,000 years later, with its contents later reclassified as an important artifact to the Covenant.

Fight like hell, reinforcements will arrive soon.

 **Godspell, Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey,**

 **ONI SECTION 0,**

 **Epsilon Indi, Terran Hegemony**

 _~Modified Entry!~_

 **FROM:** **Office of Director-General Leonid Cameron; Terra; Terran Hegemony**

 **TO:** **Office of First Prince Hanse Davion; New Avalon; Federated Suns**

 **REGARDING:** **LANTEANS; WRAITH; PEGASUS**

 **ERA OF FINDING :** **50,000 BCE**

 **-HEAD OF STATE CLASSIFIED, LEVEL 10-OMEGA CLEARANCE NEEDED-**

 **-GRANTED, Welcome First Prince Davion-**

We decided to keep it a secret, exactly how early the Lanteans met the Wraith, and what happened. Due to the way first contact went, and their subsequent war, it was necessary. Hanse, the Alteran remnant was extremely aggressive in their attempts at rebuilding their society, you remember this from our discussions yes?

The Alterans encountered the Wraith, around this time, and the began to fight nearly immediately. However, even the advanced technological power the Lanteans have, is not enough to stop the Wraith from seeing them as cattle. The Lanteans develop a lot of resentment and anger from this war, as the Wraith continuously go to any length to drain the life from their still living flesh.

After a hundred years of absolute warfare, the Lantean position degenerates until only the **_CityShip Atlantis_** remains. Sinking the city, the Lanteans return to Earth. It is there, they made changes that affected Earth for an era to come.

This then, revealed to us the location of Atlantis, and as such is of extreme importance to all the Heads-of-State within the Star League to know. We are keeping the choices they made secret for now from a vast majority of people, only because it has serious implications.

 **Regards,**

 **Director-General Leonid Cameron,**

 **Terran Hegemony, Terra**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 51~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Field Marshal Ironside; MI6-Knight Branch; Pattonsburgh; Federated Suns**

 **TO** **: Office of Field Marshall Friedrich Steiner; HEIMDALL; Donegal; Lyran Commonwealth**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; PROTHEANS; SYNTHETICS; REAPERS; THE CYCLE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **:** **48,000 BCE**

Even the Prothean, supposedly the master of all technological might, that is the Mass Effect, fell to the Reapers. A Prothean dig-site, hidden far from the prying eyes of any Reaper, attempted to warn other civilizations about the dangers inherent in Element Zero.

The Prothean Empire collapses with the arrival of the Reapers through the Citadel. Although the Protheans had learned of the Reapers' existence from studying the ruins of previous civilizations and had begun to prepare, they were caught nonetheless off-guard. Over the next several centuries, the Protheans fight the Reapers system by system, world by world, and city by city. In the end, it is not enough. The Reapers methodically wipe out the remaining Protheans, as well as other contemporary races affected and reachable through the Mass Relays, and then depart the Galaxy to wait for the next cycle.

The galaxy watched in silence, as they fell. No nation came to their aid, for they subdued all they viewed as beneath them. They were bereft of allies, and bankrupt on time. I pray we never are.

 **Hail the Star League! Field Marshall Ironside,**

 **MI6-Knight Branch,**

 **Pattonburgh, Federated Suns**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 52~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Zhao Zhu Ru; TYM HQ; Tai Yong Medical; Hellespont; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **TO** **: Office of Dr. Daniel Jackson; Stargate Command; Kervil; The Star League**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; UNAS; GOA'ULD; ALTERAN ARTIFACTS**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **:** **42,200 BCE**

You were right to reach out to us. The Megacorporations are more than happy to aid you. Our knowledge will be your knowledge. From what we can ascertain, from our discoveries, the Goa'uld society evolved like this.

Around 42,200 BCE they rapidly formed a thriving – albeit small – society, helped by their genetic memory. The species' genetic memory accelerated their development, at an exponential rate, which is easily clear and unfortunate. In short order they discovered the Stargate and begin the exploration of other worlds and seek new hosts.

Unas society is subsumed by the Goa'uld at this point, as they develop fast

This leads to the Goa'uld tech base being able to rapidly understand the samples of Alteran technology they come across. Coming at a price, unlike our initial rapid development on **Terra**. Their rapid development and cutting of evolutionary corners dooms the Goa'uld into a parasitic existence forever accustomed to taking what they desire, with no thought or concern for other species.

Obviously their genetic memory, virulent-parasitic outlook, and refusal to share will be their downfall, as they will box themselves into several corners. It is possible only few may rise above their conditioned state, and even then, they may not be a necessarily 'Good' person. They will act as if they are our friend, then when we are least expecting it, stab us quietly in the back. Only then, will they find in their arrogance, that we stand by many sayings in our culture, and we have _very_ thick skin.

" _ **Be wary of the quietest in the room."**_

 **Office of Zhao Zhu Ru, CEO TYM**

 **Tai Yong Medical,**

 **Hellespont, Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 53~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Colonel Nukem; Nemesis DIV; Umbrella Triangullum Expedition; Umbrella Dreadnought** ** _Raccoon City_**

 **TO** **: Office of Professor Heber-Katz-Wesker; Umbrella HQ; Orion; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **REGARDING** **: TRIANGULLUM; PSYCHICS; JE'DAII; RAKATA; STAR FORGE**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 34, 855 BCE**

 **-HEAD OF STATE CLASSIFIED, LEVEL 10-OMEGA CLEARANCE NEEEDED-**

 **-GRANTED, Welcome Councillor Wesker-**

I hope this transmission finds you well sir. Our expedition has reached the Triangullum with no undue stress. We were going to set up base, and send the transmission in one weeks time, as per the mission's timetable... But I discovered a repository of technological artifacts hidden inside a remote location upon this planet. A very skilled, and powerful being went about setting this up, and there are many inscriptions on the wall.

Using my AID(Artificial Intelligence Device), I scanned for artifacts. After making my way through a labyrinth of misdirecting corridors and levels, fighting many self-defence's(including hostile war-bot's), I came to the source of the energy readings.

Apparently this is the Tomb of a powerful user of what the denizens of this Galaxy deem "The Force". A Psychic of at least **Alpha-Level** threat rating, he spent over 300 years gathering the lost history and knowledge of this place, before becoming a recluse on this far planet. No one in this galaxy remembers his name, as it had apparently been lost to time. His purpose, could be deciphered from the Cave Inscriptions, once my AID deciphers the language packages from the terminal's that I have found deep inside this ancient vault and I have found something with an imprint of his consciousness that I am sure will be of aid and use.

Why was this knowledge left here? As instructed, here is the first recovered date from the terminal, per the missions priorities. Since knowledge is our concern, I will get my AID to send everything it can.

Around this time, the Dai Bendu on Ando Prime, in the Triangullum Galaxy, begin visiting a massive Tho Yor ship (which appears to be a pyramid, since part is buried). They will meditate over the structure for the next thousand years, until it finally speaks to them through the Force.

Around this time, the Rakata construct the Star Forge, and begin to to conquer much of the Triangullum. The Star Forge is a perfect Matter-Converter, and Universal Constructor, able to produce ships of any size, with the appropriate materials.

These two civilizations possessed awe-inspiring power, 38,000 years ago. I will be ever careful, as I explore and assess this Galaxies abilities and threat rating to humanity.

 **Sir, Colonel Nukem, NEMESIS-DIV,**

 **Umbrella Dreadnought** ** _Raccoon City_** **,**

 **Triangullum Expedition**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 54~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM:** **Office of Director-General Leonid Cameron; Terra; Terran Hegemony**

 **TO:** **Office of First Prince Hanse Davion; New Avalon; Federated Suns**

 **REGARDING:** **TRIANGULLUM; PSYCHICS; JE'DAII; RAKATAN; INFINITE EMPIRE**

 **ERA OF FINDING :** **33,855 BCE**

 **-HEAD OF STATE CLASSIFIED, LEVEL 10-OMEGA CLEARANCE NEEDED-**

 **-GRANTED, Welcome First Prince Davion-**

I apologize if this wakes you. This information is beings expedited to the other Head's with all due haste. _**Umbrella**_ struck pay-dirt in their expedition, at least in regards to archaeological findings, with their Triangullum Expedition. They have begun to recover information regarding their societies. This was some of the most pertinent.

Around 36,000 years ago, signs of power begin to show themselves in the Triangullum Galaxy. On **Ando Prime** , a strange pyramid (actually a Tho Yor ship partially buried) finally reaches out to the minds of the Dai Bendu monks in the Andobi Mountains for the first time since they began meditating there a millennium ago. They see this as the fulfillment of a prophecy and enter the ship, which then leaves **Ando Prime**. Similar events are happening elsewhere with other Tho Yor vessels, such as on **Kashyyyk** , **Dathomir** , **Ryloth** , and **Manaan**.

Eight Tho Yor ships travel into the Deep Core after gathering other Force-sensitive sentients and converge on the planet **Tython** , where they join a ninth, larger Tho Yor. The ships then scatter across the planet, spreading the new arrivals to different locations to begin studying the energy field that called them all there: the Force. Together, these varied peoples of varied species become one new culture: **Tythans**.

They begin to consider the two aspects of the Force, later known as the Light Side and Dark Side, and link them symbolically to Tython's two moons, Ashla (the Light Side) and Bogan (the Dark Side). Rather than focusing on the Light Side or Dark Side as future cultures like the Jedi Order of millennia in the future, the Tythans strive for balance between Light and Dark, Ashla and Bogan. In fact, when Tython is out of balance between these aspects of the Force, fierce storms and quakes rock the planet. These travellers and students of the Force become known as Je'daii, a Dai Bendu term that means "Mystic Centre." They will come to build great cities and temples, centring their society around the Tho Yor vessels. In time, however, generations will be born to these Je'daii, and not all of their descendants will be able to touch the Force. The Order of the Je'daii is founded on the planet **Tython**.

As well, the Rakatan Infinite Empire is established, around this time bringing domination over a large amount of beings with significant technology in their possession. War-droids, Hyper-drives, and other unknowns allowed the Rakatan to hold their conquests.

This gives us a fair idea of what to expect. Our science divisions can extrapolate, once we gather more information.

 **Regards, Leonid Cameron,**

 **Director-General,**

 **Terra, Terran Hegemony**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 55~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office Of Zhao Zhu Ru; Tai Yong Medical; Jia Tian; Capellan Confederation**

 **TO** **: Office of Chancellor Candace Liao; Liao II; Capellan Confederation**

 **REGARDING** **: TRIANGULLUM; PSYCHICS; JE'DAII; CORE WORLDS;**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 32,453 BCE**

Our quasi-partnership with Umbrella bore fruit. I was able to gain a series of communiques containing data-packets on the Triangullum Expedition. They insisted it be classified for your eyes only though, but apparently the other Heads are debating whether to tell you about the evidence recovered so far... They don't want to give the daughters of Maximilian Liao any ideas...

Around this time, the destruction of the "lost city" of Aurum on Tython finally leads the Tythans to realize that the world is too dangerous for those who cannot use the Force. Thus, the Tythans who are not Je'daii leave Tython. They first settle on Tython's moons, Ashla and Bogan, but soon move forward to other planets in the system. (Those born with Force sensitivity, however, will continue to be brought back to Tython.)

By this time, a system of ranks for Je'daii has been developed: youngling (not really a Je'daii yet), apprentice (or "Padawan"), Journeyer, Ranger, and Master. Those who are Je'daii move between the different temples of Tho Yor to learn about different aspects of the Force. In the next thousand years, many teachings will be brought forward, and mysteries discovered.

The non-Je'daii Tythans spread toward their sun and settle the worlds of Sunspot, Malterra, Nox, and Krev Coeur. They also travel toward the edge of their system, settling on Kalimahr, Shikaakwa, Ska Gora, the moons of Obri and Mawr, and Furies Gate. The Je'daii will eventually become almost legendary and mysterious to the generations of non-Je'daii Tythans who have spread away from Tython.

It will later be said in myths that colony ships from Tython will discover the Empress Teta, Coruscant, and Corellian systems, helping to connect three of the most important systems in the early Republic.

This is important colonial information, giving us chart-able territory, once we find the appropriate addendum's containing Star-Maps, and account for their stellar drift of course.

 **Your Excellency,**

 **Zhao Zhu Ru, Tai Yong Medical,**

 **Jia Tian, Capellan Confederation**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 56~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Zhao Yun Ru; Tai Yong Medical; China**

 **TO** **: Office of Professor Heber-Katz; Umbrella Incorporated; USA**

 **REGARDING** **: HUMANITY**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 30,000 BCE**

 _Homo Sapiens_ became the dominant species of Humanity after killing off most other human subspecies. Neanderthals and Florians are among the last to die thousands of years later. Finally, we prove the terminal point where humanity began it's ascension.

The evidence is all here.

 **Regards, Zhao Yun Ru,**

 **CEO, Tai Yong Medical,**

 **Hengsha, China**

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 57~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Big Boss; Outer Haven Foundation HQ; Farhome; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **TO** **: Office of General Jack O'Neill; Stargate Command; Kervil; The Star League;**

 **: Office of Dr. Miranda Keyes-Halsey; ONI SECTION 0; Epsilon Indi; Terran Hegemony**

 **REGARDING** **: XENOS; ASGARD; RECOVERED FINDING**

 **ERA OF FINDING** **: 30,000 BCE**

A surprising find, at the edge of Conglomerate space. Thought you should know about this.

An Asgard ship with its crew are placed in suspended animation. However, the navigation computers were damaged at some point, and the ship drifted across galaxies, ultimately ending up in the Milky Way.

These Asgard are still able to sexually procreate at this time but genetic degradation becomes more obvious and genetic diversity is becoming more of a problem. Barely a quarter of the original number can still procreate without problems.

This will be an important bargaining chip in the future, to earn us goodwill should we meet the Asgard.

 **Your best, Big Boss, OHF HQ,**

 **Outer Haven Foundation,**

 **Farhome, Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 _~New Entry!~_

 _FROM_ _: Doctor Hermione Granger; Unspeakables; Machu Picchu, Peru_

 _TO_ _: Minister Hadrian Potter; British Ministry of Magic; London, United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland_

 _REGARDING_ _: ALTERANS; ATLANTEANS; VAMPIRES_

 _ERA OF FINDING_ _: 30,000 BCE_

 _I have discovered deeper chambers in Machu Picchu than have ever been recorded, using the methods we did in the other digs with the Adventure Team Harry. A scientist who was banished from Atlantis, much like we theorize Merlin was, made an area of recording. As I translated, I find it was for one purpose._

 _The hieroglyphs are a canvas of the atrocities that Atlantis committed, and how they dominated the world during their time, through means that the Roman Empire would retch at._

 _The scientist, Kane, recorded that the Atlanteans had used himself and two others to create some technological means to access other forms of energy through experimentation. Once the Atlanteans began using their powers on other races, Kane and his compatriots asked them to stop, as the Supreme Scientific Authorities of their race._

 _They were promptly exiled._

 _Kane therefore, catalogued all they had begun to do thus far, and kept track as best he could as to their ongoing depredations. The first thing he witnessed, was the escape of a hybrid slave that had been part of a caste that was meant to labour for the greater Masters. Varnae, was the name he took, never having one when he was a slave for Atlantis._

 _This one hybrid ran loose for a while, before gathering followers and setting up the first known Vampire Court, the Grey Court. They stretched across the land, from Hyrkannia to Stygia, opposing the Others as they called the Atlanteans, with equal viciousness and disregard for their human kin. These monsters were the most violent and strong beasts of their day, with all the powers associated to the known Vampire, and they contested the Atlantean Black Sorcerors for quite some time._

 _I need to read more into this, and find what else the shining legend of Atlantis has whitewashed._

 _With my greatest regards Harry,_

 _Doctor Hermione Granger, Unspeakables,_

 _Machu Picchu, Peru_

 _ **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timeline Entry 58~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**_

 **FROM** **: Office of Big Boss; OHF HQ; Outer Haven Foundation; Farhome; Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 **TO** **: Office of Coordinator Ryu Kurita; Luthien; Draconis Combine**

 **REGARDING** **: TRIANGULLUM; DROIDS; THE OLD REPUBLIC**

 **ERA OF FINDING :** **30,000 BCE**

 **-HEAD OF STATE CLASSIFIED, LEVEL 10-OMEGA CLEARANCE NEEDED-**

 **-GRANTED, Welcome Coordinator Kurita**

Good day to you Ryu. I hope all is well in your realm, politics with the Citadel Council and events as such going smoothly. Included in this transmission is the first recovered data-packets from the Triangullum expedition. The Megacorp Council asked me to send this to you, given the fair relationship we have, so you will not dismiss it out of hand given that I am still _Gaijin_.

Around this time the core worlds, that will become the Old Republic, invent Droids. Good to see another series of species were able to create AI without the massive amount of failures most races in our galaxy have gone through.

 **Watch your back kid, Big Boss, OHF HQ,**

 **Outer Haven Foundation,**

 **Farhome, Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate**

 _ **~End of Galactic Dark Age~**_

 **Author Note : **I may go back and put planets into all the memo's. However, I have illustrated here quite well where most people are resting their heads and positions of power. But, I'll do that tomorrow, as it's 1:09 in the morning here.

Enjoy.

 **EDIT** **:** Got ya! Hoo boy, releasing information a little earlier than I wanted, but that was fast becoming the plan when I realized the scale of just what the hel I'm doing. If you haven't noticed yet, all stories pertaining to the early history(READ: Pre-Covenant Invasion) of the Star League and it's neighbours is now being posted in an alternate story.

This one will hopefully finish up the dialogue on the timeline, and get swiftly to the end of the 25th Century, beginnings of the 26th when things begin to be told in story mode!


	4. Chapter 4

**Mantle Across a Starry League**

 **Disclaimer** : I own none of the series that appear within. They belong to their respective creators and owners.

Summary: Megaverse. A grand vision, on how Mass Effect, and others will be affected by a humanity forged from the influences of 1980's-2000's Sci-Fi and such. Prepare for BattleMech's, Powered Armour's, Fusion, Energy Weapons, Psychics, Magics, and more. How will the Citadel deal with a humanity that has seen and has Cyborgs, Super-Soldiers, BattleMech's, WarShips, with more to come? The Halo Wars begin. Invasion.

 **Chapter 4 – Invasion:Harvest I**

 _"As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great powers, war is inevitable."-Albert Einstein_

 **October 10th, 2525**

 **Planet Harvest**

 **Federated Suns**

 ** _Skidbladnir_ Station**

 **Local System Time: 23:00 HRS**

It was a late night for the shift on the Federated Suns outpost. One of the various hundreds in the system, but certainly the greatest, the outpost was the nervous system of the local government and military of the FS. 1.5 km in length, 3 km tall, it stood majestically in the orbit, against the backdrop of planet Harvest. Made completely out of a highly reinforced infrastructure, the installation internals were formed from the newest advancements in metallurgy, bonded elements of boron-carbon-synthadiamond and such.

A central reactor was nestled behind successive armour belts that were thick and durable, pumping energy to armaments and life systems, from it's diatomic fusion reaction. Laser, PPC, Gauss, and Railcannon's dotted the surface of the station, giving it bite enough to fight off any fleet from the other Great Houses.

Made to house quite a few personnel, there was a network of passages spidered throughout it's mass. The corridors, insides, and any part accessible to personnel were the toughest part of the station. This was a heavily reinforced, successively braced, meticulously planned network. Gleaming orange, and blue composites gilded the tunnels, offices and barracks. At the very highest extremity of the station, lay the sensor module suite, and it was currently being occupied by someone who was feeling very tired.

Just over 2 hours into his segment of watch-duty, Operator Thomas Benns was regretting taking a double-shift in exchange for a three-day weekend, in a deal with a fellow co-soldier. Laying back into his chair, he sipped some quick-brewed caffeine, and gazed at his various displays. The suite on the station was one of the most advanced the Suns had to offer, and could run itself without much trouble, hence why Thomas had taken the shift. His seat adjusted to his backs damaged disks, the micro-servo's changing the position to allow for perfect support. He wasn't in the signals trade by choice, having survived the Age of War, his back having nearly broke from ejecting multiple times during his tenure of being a MechWarrior. Gel cushioning moulded to his body, as he laid back, and inhaled his cup of joe.

Being of average height, but of stern constitution, Thomas had passed the trials for becoming a MechWarrior, but was relegated to more junior ranks because he was not born a noble. He never complained, silently acknowledging how the nobility had earned their place, it just meant he had to earn his way to being a proven warrior. Proved his worth he had, taking many by surprise with his inherent subtlety and skill, piloting many Mech's before his back began to fail.

Rather than take replacements, cybernetic or cloned, he chose a new posting and trade where he could try his hand. Signals had not been his first choice, he had wanted intelligence, but was pushed aside and told it was impossible despite his great condition. Accepting fate, Thomas had chosen **Harvest** , and moved his family here to the most productive new colony in his proud and powerful nation.

Thankfully, he had a video-feed coming in from the ongoing thanksgiving celebration, as his wife had brought an AID with her to give him the view that his family was seeing. He did truly appreciate that, and it was a good idea that allowed him to be there in a diminished capacity, so he took the opportunity. His son and daughter certainly loved it. Now, unlike their **Terran Hegemony** neighbours who honoured their American ancestor's by celebrating the holiday in November, the **Federated Suns** celebrated it in October on the second Sunday like their Canadian ancestor's did. In one of the many political affirmations exchanged in the 21st century, the British made thanksgiving a national holiday in the Empire, which survived to this day in the **FS**. Amongst those, was the other Celtic traditions, which were all eclectically stuffed into their year.

His supervising officer due any minute, the ensign began double-checking readouts, stashing the coffee and any signs of slacking. Coming across an anomaly and frowning, he comm-ed his superior immediately, while beginning to run a full-spectrum scan. There was a ghost of an engine wake somewhere, in the outer reaches, beyond the scheduled flight-paths. And, it was large enough to warrant concern, especially given that his files came up negative when he tried to get a recognition of it's class.

The Officer on duty, a Captain Binkins, strode in, carrying his own thermos. The smell of tea reached the nostrils of Thomas's nose, slightly distracting him, as it was a rich and rare blend wafting into his nose.

Typical Officer.

"Report." Binkins said briskly, in the brisk tone the _**AFFS** _ officer corps was known for.

 **-WCW Goldberg 1st Theme START-**

"Sir. There is a ghost of a drive-wake somewhere in the system, outside of the scheduled flight-paths, whose mass is just a little troubling... Extrapolation of it's energy-flare, estimates the vessel at around... 13.5 kilometres in length. More than triple the largest WarShip the _**FSN**_ fields currently." Binkins took in the rapid-fire technical droll, nodding all the while, gazing at the screens. His operator would've double-checked before his arrival, and ensured it wasn't several vessels arriving from SlipSpace or a HyperJump, as Thomas was very competent. Troubling...

"Any sign of new comm's traffic?" Binkins asked, mind working through several scenario's. Thomas looked at his readout, scrutinizing the radio frequency band section of the holoscreen.

"No sir. No attempts by the new contact to send a message. At least on all known frequencies." Thomas replied. The Captain nodded.

"Good work Operator. I'll see this gets to the Admiral immediately. He needs to be informed ASAP." Copying the data onto a pad, the Captain set off briskly towards the Admiral's quarters.

The station was large enough to be used as an HQ, which the Admiral commandeered as such, when he was posted to this world. Something about optimizing the frontier-worlds, and turning them into powerful outposts, that would back up the core worlds if they faced treachery from their erstwhile allies. The Age of War had just ended after all, with the founding of the Star League...

First part in the plan, was to jealously guard their agricultural production planets, like Harvest. From there, they turned them into fortress-colonies, while encouraging civilian infrastructural growth. This would create new growth, and allow for new discoveries to be capitalized on, a net gain for the Federated Suns.

Mining and such would be off-planet, allowing the industrial processing to be easily taken care of and streams of resources to flow to the planet's programs. It was here, on Harvest, that Protium Fusion was perfected. Using simple water as fuel, it's reactor had an electrolysis unit, that separated the Hydrogen from Oxygen in Water fusing the two molecules into Helium. A surge in the Suns economy had taken place since then, allowing them to fund considerable programs, and military refit. Their fleet was now larger than the Terrans, and nearly as effective.

Their 3.5km **_Artur-Class_** Battleship's, were quite strong, and mounted powerful weaponry. They were designed to be long-range heavy hitter's, while the 3km _**Galahad-Class**_ Carrier's defended them from short range foes in the Federated Suns Navy doctrine. 10 XL NPPC's(the size class having replaced the weight class with this newer mark being only different in size calibre), 30 NL55's, 20 Capital Missile-tubes, and 75 point-defence Large Pulse Lasers. This was not including it's main spinal mount, the Triple-MAC. The heaviest class of MAC a Battleship could mount, firing 3 slugs in a row, 250 tonne each at .004% of lightspeed.

Mounting the newest in Ferrous-Llamellor technological advancement, the newest armour mix was layered differently from Ferro-Fibrous, and lain in brick method, after being interwoven and compressed into interlocking bricks. Reforged, and realigned several times in Zero-Gee, seemed to be the key, as it helped build a successively more braced crystalline structure within the metals.

The _**Artur-Class**_ massed in 9.5 Gigatonnes, at 3.5 km, being a straight WarShip. If this new contact was singular, that meant it had 13.5 km worth of mass, depending how advanced their internal structure was.

Unfortunately, despite the importance of Harvest, only one was deployed here.

"Possible 42 Gigatonnes of mass detected at an Apex Jump Point, at 2300 Hrs, Admiral Redburn". Stated Captain Binkins as he strode in briskly with a memo. Redburn gazed out over the planet, and motioned for the file, emotionless. His eyes flicked through it, reading at a rapid pace.

He thrust the file back at his Captain, as he motioned for them to hurry out of his office.

"Inform the fleet, we are moving to Red Status, this is not a drill."

The planet hustled, and many moved into position. Thousands went for reinforced shelters beneath local redoubts, and others went to put on uniforms. The IIIrd RCT(Regimental Combat Team) moved into full readiness, and came online placing their assets at full readiness to combat and destroy any threats.

Lot's of sabre-rattling still existed, despite the end of the Age of War. Thus, the policy of every Great Power, was a heavily armed and innovational peace. House Davion and it's knightly system, aspired to place as many shipyards, defensive emplacements, and self-sufficiency in the hands of their local military and civilians to ensure their security. Their citizens were proud and supported the Nobles directions (most of the time), as long as they were as fair and just as they preached. The Davion's standard etiquette, espoused Meritocratic achievement by the noble houses, for the advancement of the people, state, and to aspire to truly become Artur's vision of a nation.

Big emphasis was put upon arming industrial infrastructure, to avoid having wings of the Fleet in every system. This allowed it to stay a mobile reaction force, covering Sector's divided from the current March's that existed in the Federated Suns, and give the citizenry an even greater role in the defence of the nation while not cutting into it's naval strength. As well, trained and able-bodied civilians, who were good with weapons made for good recruits into the AFFS.

Camelot, as it was, is lost, but it's ideal existed in the hearts of the Federated Suns people's.

2,000 BattleMech's stood ready, with 2,200 Assault Tanks, 1,800 Short-Range Artillery Hovercraft, and 1,800 Long-Range Tracked Artillery. 2 full divisions of power suited infanteers, totalling a British 24,000, moved into positions that would give them different rolls in the battlefield, defending key sites and reinforcing the mobile assault RCT. The Suns Knights hearts filled with honour, and pressures of duty and glory once they heard what was happening in orbit.

The Admiral watched, as the ship made no attempt to contact them, and just began to power up everything onboard. His face grew concerned as he gazed at the readout, it showed that these aliens had mastered Pinch-Fusion Plasma Reactions, from what his AID could tell him. Even though Protium was incredibly efficient, it was not on the magnitude of Pinch-Fusion, the plasma being able to generate massive amounts of power. Humanities Fusion was incredibly efficient and cost-effective, utilizing 99.3% of the power it generated, but it couldn't' compare to the power of Pinch-Fusion. Their armour was apparently a Nanolamellar, made of sheets of nicely balanced rare-elements.

Armour that was made of something lighter, and less-efficient than the _**Artur**_ , yet they had figured out ways surpass them in size. That didn't quite make sense from a materials science point of view.

 _"Huh, MI6 won't be happy about that, send a Hyperpulse immediately on that ships schematics!"_ He sent to his neural lattice, the message pinging his AID, Granz. This AID patterned itself after a barbarian from monolithic times, which survived by martial skill, cunning, and being stronger and faster than his enemy.

That was also what Redburn preferred. Being equipped, outflanking the enemy, and striking a smashing and devastating blow. Most underestimated human potential anyway, and what they could possibly do. Why did Admiral Redburn know this? Because humans underestimated each other in every war ever fought. Mistakes are always made. So, Redburn was going to try something, and see what these aliens wanted.

A first contact package was sent.

A message came back.

Redburn's eyes widened. It was sent to every orbital installation – and planetary accessible computer – that could receive.

A dark screen popped up into every terminal, screen, or digitally accessible object with a display, showing a darkened bridge of a ship, with several shadowed beings. One, in the centre, had a majestic crown, and was flanked by large, 9' tall aliens. All were covered in the shades of black and blue. Finally, a voice spoke, and it cut into perception with such a chilling respite that many knew things had gone severely wrong.

 **"Humans..."**

 **"Your destruction..."**

 **"Is the will of the Gods!"**

 **And we..."**

 **"ARE. THEIR. INSTRUMENT!"**

The message cut off abruptly, leaving a massive wave of inquiries with the local Duke. Not only was there that, but military chains of command were requesting orders with increased urgency. The Admiral shook himself from the shock of the blunt message these newcomers had sent. He called his AID forth.

"Prepare for Battle. Order all commands to eliminate any hostile Non-Human Life-form, in any way you see possible. Whoever these aliens are, from their declaration, it appears they are zealots. Treat them as religious fanatics, like Crusader Legions come to the Holy Land, only to see filthy Heathens inhabiting it. This is what I believe we are dealing with." Admiral Redburn began relaying orders to all commands, moving everything into place.

The alien ship raced into the system, and began lobbing plasma, massive seeking torpedo's of it. The Harvest system's defence's were powerful for a successor state, but apparently not enough for a nimble ship that had... energy-shields?

 _"Energy-shielding?"_ thought the Admiral, as he watched arms from various platforms lash out at the intruder, only for a silvery barrier to pop up and guard the enemy from destruction.

"In this solar system, there were 600-odd platforms, with 1,000's of individuals each upon them. Harvest is a planet around 4 times the size of Terra, but in the same orbit. There are fewer planets, but a large Asteroid belt. It is ringed with installations and defences. I hope it can slow this monster down." was all the Admiral could think as it accelerated towards the planet.

Having come into the system from the outermost point, where gravity was calm, the ship appeared to be scanning for life-forms in the outer system, before Redburn could get his ship out there to combat the monstrosity. The ship flipped it's belly to the the asteroids, and began to spit a column of plasma, incinerating everything in it's path. The beam would bore into the rock for a few seconds, until the Alien ship shut it off and continued on to the next target, then switched the thing on again.

It also kept a continuous cycle of powerful plasma, guided, torpedoes spraying from it's tubes. Mining installations barely had time to read incoming, before having hellish rounds of Capital-Class blue-white death drill through their station. As the Alien ship held itself off at a good few light-years range, and sniped the platforms, more and more came online.

 _"Damnit, those things are powerful!"_ Thought the Admiral as torpedo's blasted several installations offline. Ferro-Fibrous armour was strong, and could shed plasma blasts, but not directly electromagnetically-controlled ones. As the ship cruised into Federated Suns space, and encroached upon the territory of House Davion, the advantage of sensors and cybertech allowed Redburn to get accurate readings and estimations on what the weapons were.

 **"Emissions register in the Petawatt Range. The electro-magnetic discharge is immense, initially, but magnificently controlled once activated. There is virtually no way to disperse the weapon, as the field will adjust and constrict to reduced sizes if material is blasted away. It literally eats anything in front of it not capable of taking plasma temperatures. Which is most of the Inner Spheres weapon-systems"** Granz reported to the Admiral, as he simultaneously advised the other ships and General of the RCT, one of the numerous Hasek-Sandoval's an Erich if he remembered.

The man was very professional, and insisted on high performance from himself, before his subordinates, preferring to lead by meritorious example. Those officers and nobles that were like Eric Von Hasek-Sandoval, are of solid and fearless stock, if they were anything like the vibrant hardy General. When facing Mad Max's Clone Legions in the Crescendo, as a lowly lieutenant he had simply hardened, and learnt the value of massed formations with combined arms tactics alongside several other junior commanders who had to take over leadership before they thought they were ready.

Erich had prepared the 3rd Regimental Combat Team in solid defensive position, forming several concentric belts around the reactor and industrial area in the mountains. Their Planetary Defence Fortress's were there as well, massive ground-based cannons, with huge heat-dispersal systems allowing for massive-calibre weaponry. This was all happening, as Admiral Redburn led the Naval Action against the Alien ship, above the garden world. Redburn needed to buy them time.

The Alien ship was now being targeted by the guns of the Orbital Infrastructure. Weaker Gauss Quad Turrets didn't do too much, but Heavy Naval PPC's and NL55's managed to put some strain on the shields of the ship, along with long barrelled Railcannon's. Enough that any installations possessing such weapons were destroyed at range instantly, and the ship started to try and find a way around human energy weapons.

The powerful, and extensive armaments this enemy possessed, gave it a significant advantage on the Naval Grid when taking things into consideration. It's defences, and reactor-emissions, bordered on the ludicrous. The alien ship continued to batter down any sign of life, while stoically enduring the fiery blasts of blue and emerald energy thrown at it.

It had learned now to back off when facing human Railcannon's, as their rounds, and speed drained considerable amounts of energy from the shields. Ruthlessly, the Aliens fired on any lifeboats, destroying everything that may have escaped. After fighting through the belt, the alien ship beheld the planet Harvest, and it's own installations.

An orbital elevator led to an unfolding dock, which seemed to be a refit and refinery station. Several odd add-ons appearing in various areas, benefiting towards both bracing the structure and adding firepower to the important base armaments. One ship was docked on it.

It was fair-sized, by alien standards. They read the scans of the bases on the planet, and in space, and decided to land troops on the opposite side, because of what awaited them below Skidbladnir Station.

Oversized batteries of Particle Projector Cannons, Massive Railcannon's, Huge UltraLasers, bunched in massive and reinforced domes. Coordinated by dozens of AID's, they aimed to bring down anything invading Harvest.

Thus, the Alien ship stayed out of range of the PDF, and landed a biblical number of troops, before heading back for his station and ship.

Admiral Redburn's jaw dropped. He then recovered and set himself, straightening up. Opening a holo-comm channel across the planet and army, he tried to look as brave as could be.

 _ **"Men and Women of the Federated Suns colony of Harvest. Today, whether you be a citizen or a member of the military, and no matter your place in our society, today we are all the same. An alien ship has made first contact. It has declared it's intention to destroy us, that they are fanatics who believe very strongly, and truly in what they want to do. That is very clear. This could be my last address to you. So far this alien WarShip, has destroyed all orbital and outpost installations in the Belt, and any lifeboats or shuttles in it's path they have killed as well. It then proceeded to land on the opposite side of the planet's PDF, dropping a considerable number of life-forms and materials."**_

The Admiral paused, letting the people think for few seconds.

 _ **"Harvest faces nearly 3.5 million alien soldiers, and equivalent material, on the plains across the super-continent. They are coming to destroy all of us, humans, as a race. That ship is headed for mine, so I know I will not survive, considering our weapons are not as effective as I wish them to be. Citizens of the Federated Suns, let them know just what humanity is made of, and why we aren't so easily led to destruction. I want you to personally send these bastards to the depths below Avalon. Protect the innocent. Peace and Justice t** **o the Empire!"**_ Redburn cut it off after that deliverance, and sent the orders through his command, for the fleet to charge and engage.

An Admiral in charge of a single ship, didn't really make sense. The _**Artur**_ , however, was the first of it's class, brand spanking new, and mounting the best in FedSuns gear that the _**Q-Branch R &D**_ could produce. Shaped as a diamond spearhead, 3.5 km long, the Artur had a complement of strategically placed weapons. A tripe-action spinal railcannon. Two sets of Turrets on the upper frame, and lower frame housing the PPC's and Lasers, and Missile-tubes situated throughout.

With the stations guns, and the PDF, it was thought easily capable of taking on a full Capellan Confederation Fleet. Indeed it could, but it was not Capellan's the AFFS had to worry about.

Especially when it's enemy was sniping it.

They would have to go out, and hunt, to deal some kind of damage that was capable of halting the aliens... Better than sitting here waiting for the warm touch of plasma-beams as it outrange's the guns of your station, dodges the particle cannon, and blasts you pieces... Admiral Redburn quickly strode to his ship, gathering those he needed, and galvanizing those who were off-duty to hurry and get aboard. The ship wasn't here yet...

 **"Admiral, the alien ship... It is now within minimum firing distance..."** Granz reported. Redburn groaned internally.

"What are you waiting for? Shoot the bastard!" Redburn snarled mentally, but then could almost hear the AI sigh. A screen was displayed on his micro-HUD, in the upper right portion of his eye.

 **"We are in their minimum firing distance now. I worked it out from their weapons, and their sortie at the Belt."** Granz said, as he showed the Alien ship, it's weapon-arc's, and if it turned to belly, how far it needed to come to wash them in plasma. Not very far.

"How did they do that?" He asked poignantly, angered at the sudden need to make with urgency, letting his subordinates know.

 **"Pinpoint Slipspace, from their display, and it appears there is a slight weakness."** Even as he rushed to the bridge of the Artur, Redburn saw the Alien ship reappear in front of the _ **Skidbladnir's**_ telescopic camera's, then shut down for at least 30 seconds. This was a good find. It would do well for Q-Branch to look it over.

 _"Hyperpulse that immediately."_ Granz mentally nodded, and sent a message through the HPG(Hyperpulse Generator Station). Travelling into a data-packet, it was thrust into a wormhole opened for microseconds, connected to another one several lightyears away. The MI6 Station on the other end would have an interesting week ahead of it.

The bridge set up quickly, and soon, the personnel were in their seats as the warm-up cycle's reached 100%. Forgoing protocol, Granz had begun spinning everything up the second Redburn had initiated the orders to head to the Arthur, which ensured everything was good to go and at the crews fingertips the second they sat down.

"All right pilot, take her out. Let's go hunting." The ensign nodded, releasing the docking clamps and external inertial dampeners, before initiating a small bit of thrust. Accelerating smoothly as they left the dock, the ensign handled the wide and unwieldy battleship with care, feathering the controls smoothly and expertly. Once it was free of anything in the back, the ensign punched their Fusion Drives, achieving nearly 35 G's.

The Arthur flew towards the enemy. Circling around the flank to avoid it's ventral plasma-beams, the Admiral ordered all weapon capacitors charged and holding, while missile-tubes standby for reload.

It was now, that the ship belched it's powerful plasma torpedoes, in the direction of the Davion Battleship. Redburn now had a thought. 8 torpedoes made their way ponderously towards their ship. With a minute gesture, orders were sent to the Weapons Station, allowing him to delegate targets for the 75 Pulse Lasers the Artur possessed.

The Artur and unknown ship were now within extreme firing distance, the torpedoes being acquired by the defence turrets. Gunners opened up, assisted by AID's, allowing their targeting to be extremely accurate. The Electromagnetically-controlled Plasma Torpedoes began to shudder, as energy-bolts slammed into their massive rounds, stripping material away.

The PPC, Laser, and Railcannon's of the ship spoke, adding their compliment to the fight. Sparkling blue bolts of Ions, emerald flashes of energy, and 250 tonne slugs headed towards the Alien ship. The ship smoothly accelerated in a barrel-loop-de-loop, avoiding all but the quickest of the weapons.

The Laser's recharged first, and the flash of 15 Naval Laser 55's met bright-blue energy shield. The aliens dodge was now completed, and they bared their belly at the Arthur, trying to bring the plasma-beams into play. It appears the Lasers were effective, but unable to punch completely through the enemies energy-shield. As the Railcannon's take the longest, the PPC batteries were begin brought to bear next.

At this time, the action against the torpedoes finished. Out of the 8, 6 had been worn to nothingness by weight of fire, but 2 made it through somewhat whole and ready to damage. They struck the _**Artur**_ , one on the upper spine, and one amidships. Plasma met Ferro-Llamellor, and began to grind against the tough and durable plating. Energy was shed, and the elements in the armour heated up plenty, but the plates didn't break.

Coltan was a good addition after all.

The Plasma did however rip gashes over 150 feet long where they struck, as the plasma torpedoes wore themselves out. The crew breathed a sigh of relief, as they got onto cycling the PPC's, Railcannon's, and loading missile-tubes.

The Alien shield recharged at this point, blinking defiantly into existence around their ship, as if to taunt the humans aboard the Artur. For what purpose? Redburn wondered, before giving orders for the PPC's to target the central spine of their enemy, before it could fire the main cannon they were appearing to power up.

The XLPPC's spat out large bolts of ionized protons, appearing as if they were balls of lightning. Ten smacked into the shield of the enemy, and it glowed extremely bright, coming to an almost luminescent blueish-silver for a moment, before dispersing completely.

Redburn slammed a fist into his armrest. That was what he had been waiting for.

However, to his dismay, the lines on it's underside began to light up with violent energy, converging towards the fearsome cannon. With a roar, the Admiral began to order weapons to fire the Railcannon's with the Missile-tubes.

"FIRE THE RAILCANNON'S! SET THE MISSILE-TUBES TO COME IN AS THE RAILCAN-!" He never finished his sentence, as the Alien ship fired off a ventral Plasma-Beam, blasting right through their Ferro-Llamellor as it was just too much energy focused at a single point to stop. The command centre and engines, were both along the central spines of the ship, and thus were instantly destroyed. As the beam faded, the Artur began to crack in half, as there was no keel holding it's mass together now.

Protocol began to activate, however, and seconds scant afterwards, the ship split in half as the remainder of the engines in each half detonated. To ensure no technology falls into an enemies hands, there were deadmans switch's in all Federated Suns tech. A Yellowish-Orange Fireball erupted, and the Davion Battleship _**Artur** _ was no more.

 **-WCW Goldberg 1st Theme END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Sabaton-Rorke's Drift START-**

General Erich Von Hasek-Sandoval looked extremely annoyed, as a junior officer ran into the War Room, and gave him a missive. Looking up and surveying the officers around him grimly, the General cleared his throat, and brought the attention of the room on his person. His Colonels looked on, hushed now, as they awaited his announcement.

"The _**Artur**_ is gone. We stand alone. There are 3.5 million aliens on the other side of the planet. Ready your troops. We will fight until the last." The Colonel's nodded, and began to move out.

Erich quickly got to his vehicle, mounting up onto his command-tank with speed, thinking of only the battle ahead. His Sgt. Major, and two Corporals greeted him. One was a driver, another a gunner. The Sgt. Major was chosen as the Comms Operator, having been put in charge of the Regimental Combat's Teams orders because few argued with orders from a Von Hasek-Sandoval, especially when they came from a gruff Sgt. Majors voice.

 _News that came that morning told that the main force had been slain,_  
 _Chance for peace and justice gone, and all talks had been in vain_  
 _A prince had been offended and he had gone the path of war_  
 _Now that 1500 men are dead, and the Zulus at the door_

Hasek-Sandovals tank, was 100 tonnes of fusion powered, tracked behemoth. Streak SRM-10's in boxy outer pod's, an RAC-2 (Rotary Autocannon 20mm) for infantry defence, and the main guns of the squat angular turret were dual-linked Heavy PPC's. Wrapped in 22 tonnes of Ferro-Fibrous armour, it could easily shed Gauss/Rail rounds, and keep coming easily making it a fearsome opponent even for a BattleMech of the same class. Lancelot-Class Assault Tanks came with good reputations.

With reliable loading mechanism's, a dependable rate of fire from the energy-weapons, and great output/fuel-efficiency from the _**TW55**_ Reactor inside(reactor's became designated by their output and level, after Protium's invention – in this case TW=Terrawatt, and 55 means this reactor generates 55 of them per second) the tank managed an impressive power-to-weight ratio. Their fire-control, and Grid-Interface were top-notch, thanks to AI-installation/ruggedization, before they even left the factory. Therefore, he rode confidently into each battle.

Riding out into the slowly assembling proper formations, he started to move his armoured host into a spear, as the army moved across the planet. Becoming a massive, host of a powerful rolling force, they rode as one with 2,200 Assault Tanks at the fore. 1,800 Medium Artillery followed, keeping a close range to the tank horde so they could support, and the 1,800 tubes of the Long-Range Artillery began rumbling in the rear as well.

The armoured host made good use of the terrain of Harvest, being able to proceed across the vast super-highways, staying cohesive with relative ease. They proceeded apace out of the Redoubt's, and Cities, becoming one as they all drove towards the awaiting alien horde.

The Aerospace assets, those that still existed, halted any excursions and massed at the fortress of _**Salamandastron**_. Only 185 Space-Superiority Interceptors were left, following the space-engagements against the release of the Alien ships swarm of fighter-craft. The PDF was named as such, given for it's draconic ability to bite into space, and salamanders were said to be descended from their Dragon forefathers.

 _"Powerful though they are"_ , Erich thought, _"would it be enough?"_ Or would the reserve shoc-best not to think of that... Just in case.

Some officers would understand, that loose lips sinks ships.

Loose thoughts can rend empires.

And if their new enemy was anything like the human race than they must have some interesting people.

The host trekked westward, and soon, they were on the great plains of Harvest, and there they saw their enemy. Mighty, were they, indeed.

 _Zulus attack,_  
 _Fight back to back_  
 _Show them no mercy and_  
 _Fire at will,_  
 _Kill or be killed_  
 _Facing, awaiting_

 _A hostile spear, a new frontier, the end is near_  
 _There's no surrender_  
 _The lines must hold, their story told, Rorke's Drift controlled_

Sleek, organic purple, metallic designs formed their weapons, vehicles and bodies. Two life-forms were apparent from their immediate disposition.

A short, ape-like creature, and a bird-like beak-faced humanoid of similar height.

The ape-creature's all had breathing masks, and different coloured humps. The most common types had orange one's. Two types of the bird-beaks were immediate. Ones with feathers and wrist-shields, and the ones with bodysuits and rifles.

A host, nay, horde of aliens as far as the eye could see and as deep as the horizon had come to march upon the realms of Man.

Setting their resolve, the force would do what they can, then, and kill as many as possible.

Erich sent orders for the Artillery to open up, then begin interval bombardment, following and preceding various thrusts. The goal was to get a rolling bombardment going, timed with his advance. The General knew they would be utterly spent in this charge, but he had to try.

There were 9 billion citizens on Harvest, and 7 million were already dead, from the orbital installations systematic destruction. He owed it to them all, to try and stop any encroachment, as this now seemed more and more to be about their right to exist.

The enemy was certainly fanatical enough, given they had already engaged in shooting Lifeboats, and making sure any sign of humanity was being eradicated from the Harvest solar system.

"Finally" was the only thought going through his head as the tanks charged forward, grinding the terrain before them beginning the arduous task of blasting away at the aliens with their PPC's, Autocannon and Short-Range Missile-tubes, throwing everything at them except a kitchen sink. Raking their lines with powerful fire, they crashed into the North-East flank of the army, and began to run over entire squads of infantry and formations of armour reinforcing the lines.

Chaos and havoc became the scene of the day, as the withering fire of the tanks slammed into the Covenant formations. Infantry became shredded underneath rapid-moving treads, energy shields were overwhelmed with blue ion bolts, and armour was overcome with an overwhelming amount of lead.

Just then, the artillery came into full effect.

Thousands of rounds began to explode, and destroy everything in front of them, even as the tanks charged straight through. Cannon fire spewed forth from their turrets belligerently, rapidly destroying whole sections of enemy troops, disappearing entire infantry squares with their PPC's and vaporizing them in a flash. The variants with Railguns ripped deep lines into the amassed aliens, slicing through many at a time, as the tanks surged through the field.

 _Later on that fateful day as they head towards the drift,_  
 _Stacking boxes, fortifying, preparations must be swift_  
 _Spears and shields of oxen hide facing uniforms and guns,_  
 _As the rifles fire echoes higher, beating like the sound of drums_

Dual-linked, heavy bolts of protons and protons struck the lines of the Alien force, as the tanks RAC2's spun up and added a thunderous staccato to the sizzling sounds of ionization. Thousands of orange-hooded beings began to fall, shredded to paste, and incinerated by PPC's. The ones with shields proved harder to take, being capable of deflecting some of the Auto-cannon's shells, so the tanks were already unleashing thousands of powerful missiles in spite of this.

The targeting computers began to draw up complex solutions for the missile pods, preparing to send hundreds of compact and powerful Streak missiles into the enemy, via the sky.

Streaking into groups of the hunched over aliens, the shield-wearing ones were decimated, as ballistic-computers had smart-targeting weave around their shields. The beaked birds flew apart, with the harsh kinetic, and explosive impacts giving the tanks more breathing space. This alleviated much sniper fire, and allowed the tank force to concentrate on it's opposition, which was only now beginning to recover from the artillery bombardment.

SRM's shot into the sky, trying vainly to detonate the plasma-mortar shells the enemy tanks launched. The explosive force they had was enough for some, but others misjudged the capability needed to penetrate the field. Dual-linked HPPC's lashed out at the Heavy Hover Tanks, and they could do little in the face of the cannons power as they were blown to pieces, by the dozens as the Assault-Tanks roared deeper into the Alien Horde.

 _Zulus attack,_  
 _Fight back to back_  
 _Show them no mercy and_  
 _Fire at will,_  
 _Kill or be killed_  
 _Facing, awaiting_

 _A hostile spear, a new frontier, the end is near_  
 _There's no surrender_  
 _The lines must hold, their story told, Rorke's Drift controlled_

Their Auto-cannon sought out the enemies small quadrupedal tanks, and corralled them whenever they could, as they tried to attack from oblique directions. The turret moved too slow to bring the main guns to bear on the skittering neck-pains, and most of the four-legged buggers skedaddled away from their sights, while scoring glancing hits and trying themselves to overload the armour of the tanks.

Whenever a quadruped was hit by the HPPC's, though, it was blasted to a smoking ruin.

Though they hit many alien tanks and infantry, and crushed soooo many under-feet with their treads, the weight of fire began to build against their armour. 1,000's of variations of plasma weapons fired at tonnes of Ferro-Fibrous armour as the tanks charged them, slowly becoming flaming wreckage's. The next artillery barrage came in with fury, only to reveal that the alien army had surged back as best as they could, mitigating the damage they received. Their enemy was learning

Many tanks elected to continue on for quite a while, utilizing their plates heat to kill many aliens on contact, vowing to make them pay.

 _1879, when a few held the line_  
 _(Back to back, attack, the dead are stacked )_  
 _When the last stand was made, and the Empire saved_  
 _(Back to back, attack, the dead are stacked )_

The alien armoured forces rallied too soon, however. Tens of thousands of hover tanks, firing short-range plasma mortar shells, as they began to cut off the host of Davion Armour. Winged close-air-support craft began to to team up on tanks by the dozens, using their Plasma-Bombs to tear them apart. Short and and squat quadrupedal tanks, swarmed his larger and more powerful Assault-Tanks trying to cut apart their armour, crawling upon the bodies of their larger and less numerous opponents with a horde of superior numbers.

The horde surged forward, and began to unload millions of bolts of plasma, filling the kill-box. By now, the Tankers were surrounded, in depth. Rolling forth with uncountable numbers, the mobile action of the humans was met with a tsunami of alien bodies and metal. Even as their numbers were chopped down, as they ate particle blasts, lasers, and auto-cannon fire, the aliens rumbled onward without a care for casualty nor injury.

Millions of screaming, foreign, and ignorant aliens charged the FedSuns formation. On the plains of Harvest, this made prime real-estate to fight such a battle, plenty of space for the armoured forces on this fateful day.

 _Zulus attack,_  
 _Fight back to back_  
 _Show them no mercy and_  
 _Fire at will,_  
 _Kill or be killed_  
 _Facing, awaiting_

 _A hostile spear, a new frontier, the end is near_  
 _There's no surrender_  
 _The lines must hold, their story told, Rorke's Drift controlled_

 _"How did things get this wrong, so quickly, during this day. How is it that a series of species exist, that want nothing but to destroy us?"_ Was the lone thoughts pondered, by General Erich Von Hasek-Sandoval, while continuing to gaze upon the destruction.

"By the time today ends, it will be someone else's job to figure out, for now all I must concern myself with is doing my duty for the people. Men, it's been an honour. See you in Avalon!" Erich broadcasted, as he threw a final salute to his onboard crewmates, still driving forward in silent determination.

Even as unanswered questions fired through his brain, he focused his considerable intellect upon the task at hand. Devastation of the alien forces, and ensuring the protection of the civilians. As his tank entered the last 2.5 km gap between the tanks and the edge of the horde, and ergo the start of the supply line, he cleared his mind. The crew began acting upon instinct, firing, moving and responding to orders with predetermined responses, and moving with a practised smoothness the General had strove to develop over several years.

Missile-tubes began designating the smaller quadrupedal vehicles as they reloaded, and the auto-cannon targeted the numerous others making headway towards them. HPPC began to spit bolt after bolt, as they dodged the thousands of descending mortar rounds of plasma. In scant seconds, however, they began to contract enemy firepower, for all their skill and manoeuvring. Plasma ate away at the Ferro-Fibrous plates, stripping tonnes of armour off of the tank, as it hurdled forward.

The noble Knight-General gritted his teeth as the armour absorbed titanic impacts. He addressed his men, over the radio, all that were left.

 _ **"Gents. Ladies. Comrades in Arms of the Federated Suns, our people will remember this day! They will remember the IIIrd's charge at the Plains of Harvest! For naught but Honour, Empire, Peace, Justice, and GLORY! Do we stand against this horde! Charge this unknown horde of bastards of barbarians, show them no mercy, and bring to them the fire and steel of the Federated Suns! Make safe the mountain! This is General Erich Von Hasek-Sandoval, signing off!"**_

With that said, he punched in orders for the reactors red-lining initiation to begin, and notified the crew to prep an Alpha Strike. Sending coordinated commands to the remaining 550 tanks, he sent as many as he could, with the hordes end coming up fast. Artillery was soon in the air again, big and medium shells, prepping a creeping bombardment for his tanks. This would break a few lines for him, enabling his tanks to punch through their deep lines, hopefully enough to break through their army and bust up it's supplies.

Probably not enough to route 3.5 million troops, though, as that was too large a mass to navigate even with 550 powerful Assault Tanks.

The remainder formed into a giant spear, pointed at the north-east portion of the Alien Horde. The General wanted to punch through the right flank, and then start an encirclement, so that he could could smash them to pieces with air and artillery.

Any delay was a win in time for the citizens to get to the StarPort in the PDF, because once that alien ship came back down, all was lost. It outmatched anything they had, proven bluntly when it ripped the Artur to shreds, striding through their orbital installations like they weren't even there.

The 550 tanks charged, alight with flames of war, plasma beginning to coat the surface of their chassis.

 _Zulus attack,_  
 _Fight back to back_  
 _Show them no mercy and_  
 _Fire at will,_  
 _Kill or be killed_  
 _Facing, awaiting_

 _A hostile spear, a new frontier, the end is near_  
 _There's no surrender_  
 _The lines must hold, their story told, Rorke's Drift controlled_

The aliens swarmed over the massive 100 tonne tanks, caring little for injury and loss of limb, as they attacked en masse. Bodies became nothing but pulp, threatening to gum up the treads, and the immense amount of plasma fire coming from all directions now was enough to slow them down bit-by-bit. As tank, after tank erupted into a ball of plasmatic fire, the General tried to complete the objective and at least collapse the North-East flank, and get through to their supply lines.

100's of orange-hooded aliens began to get run over by the flaming hellions of the IIIrd's leftover tanks, as they struggled to prevent them from breaking through, rushing the large metal beasts en masse. Their flaming hulls were able to still move, and thus caught many an alien in its way, unfortunately for the aliens.

They became moving graveyards, with burnt-out skeletons stretched on them, piled over their armour from the charge. The aliens truly began to think them as more unclean then ever, now, but the humans were so completely furious in their attack that they didn't notice in their drive to crush the invaders for what they were doing to their homes and people.

Even the shield-wearing aliens were not safe, as the flaming hull of a 100-tonne Assault-Tank, has a kinetic energy of _**F#$K-Y#$%$#F!**_ In military layman's terms. The tanks had taken to sliding into them, drifting back and forth from their lanes, so they could slam their massive bodies into the shield holding punks, trying to get them to bounce onto the turret and burn at the highest point.

These actions, however well-meant and furious they may be, attracted and enraged the horde of aliens. They began to focus much more on the tank columns, as they were decimated them one by one, bringing the number down bit by bit. Each tank put up a magnificent defence, weaving about, and getting help from brethren, but the enemy is too numerous.

The decimation begins, as the alien lines stabilize, and many orange-hooded ones come up, with shield-wearing beak-faced packs, and 100's of both the Heavy Hovertank and Medium Quadrupedal Tank.

 **"General, our numbers are dropping too fast, you must launch the strike now."** Granz uploaded to his neural lace.

 _"Uh-huh."_

 **"General..."**

 _"Yeah, understood."_

 **"GENERAL!"**

Erich grunted, before opening the comm channel.

 _"All tanks, Alpha-Strike now! Artillery, keep firing until you are overrun, and protect the civilians. Hovercraft, retreat!"_ With that said, he triggered the override on his Command-Tank's Reactor, feeding immense power into the magnetic field generators of the Dual-linked HPPC's. Protons ionized and accelerated in masses of powerful blue luminescent globules, to near lightspeed, smashing into the hovering mortar craft of the aliens.

At the end of the day, however, the host and the general were brought down. General Erich Von Hasek-Sandoval fought to the last, and took out many alien armoured vehicles, while firing consistently until mobbed to wreck and ruin.

 **-Sabaton-Rorke's Drift END-**

The horde began the long march overland, exterminating every settlement, and conducting a scorched-earth policy against all before them. It was this doctrine, that led to a slogging harsh day for them, but nothing that could stop this Alien Juggernaut. These beings had no feeling, and certainly no compassion for civilians, crushing and blasting everything that surrounded them. Their rapidly-extending supply-chain seemed capable to keep up with them, after the destruction of the the Regimental Armour.

Aerospace assets fought frequent duels in the sky, proving fairly equal, despite not possessing energy-shields for the Exoastmospheric 100-tonne Aerospace Superiority Fighters, on the human side. The people had evacuated, as the orders from the Admiral, then General came over their comms. All to the massive PDF Fortress and StarPort of Salamandastron.

Over 8 billion people had "made it", 1 billion had become casualties of all the actions around the planet.

In the skies, a squadron of YF-64 Omega Raptors, on loan from the Terrans were hunting every target in sight. Despite not having the energy shielding of the enemy fighters, they possessed PPC's, Lasers, and powerful compact missile's. These aided in bringing down their enemies defence's, as their plasma cannons stitched across the fighters armour, trading fire in vicious dogfights. PPC's had a powerful effect on most of the enemy, bringing their shields down with two shots on average.

"All right lads, bring the rain, and follow it in with the snow!" Code-words for PPC, then Laser, came across the squads freq from the leader, as he designated targets for them. Fighters sent bolt after bolt of protons down-range, launching slurries of laser-bolts to follow-up and shred the fuselage of the enemy. The uncoordinated nature of the enemy fighter force, meant that Wolf-Pack tactics were good for dog-fighting, even though dog-fighting was never a good gamble and usually resulted in massive casualties on both sides. The Squadron used their combined firepower, to continuously clear the space around them, but only as much as to protect the StarPort.

They didn't want to attract the attention of the Alien ship which blew apart the Artur in one shot, while protecting the evacuation of civilians. So they flew over the city, and tried to fire on the legions of the enemy as they attacked their fellow humans, but the thickness of enemy fighters kept their attention away from the holocaust taking place below.

So many fighters were now coming, attacking them, and it was in that moment they decided to go down swinging. Going North, over the pole, they pulled the attention of the majority enemy air-cover, with a ferocious killing of their comrades. It was in that moment they revealed their secret weapons.

Each of them was carrying a bevy of Pure Fusion Missiles. Wanting to even the odds, and prevent the enemy from having too much of an air-superiority advantage, the squad detonated these weapons over the ocean. Amidst a cloud of enemy fighters, they disappeared instantly, amidst the glow of multiple 200-Megaton detonations.

Their actions gained the civilians some time. Air power was not able to aid the ground forces in it's ravaging of the lands, by the alien army. The mountain was now at full capacity, and moved to repel the massed army assailing it. 3 million aliens, and their accompanying tanks, moved on the great complex and it's concentric belts of defence.

 _~Scene Change~_

 _~Behind the Mist...~_

Commander Hadrian Potter looked upon the powerful army standing before Salamandastron. Not since ancient times, had an army this large gathered to assail humanity, from across the stars. And all this came from one ship. No, the Mages of the College Imperial, 'ere servants of Avalon's visionary state, would get get to the bottom of this travesty and soon.

 **-Gandalf vs Witch King – Theoden speech – Charge of Rohirrim START-**

Within seconds, his surrounding darkened and changed. As he instantly began rising to a higher vantage point, suddenly, the area blackened around them. From up in the sky, down came one being, riding a bolt of lightning.

"Trying to impress me, with a large display, this early on?" Hadrian immediately was on guard, drawing up his staff, raising his magic about him while readying a plethora of spells. The electricity in front of him magnified into a mesmerizing dark blue, and revealed a tall alien cloaked in shadow. This all happened in microseconds, seen by Hadrian's advanced perceptions, and he sized up the newcomer.

A rather tall, and darkly armoured reptile, with interesting legs and barely perceptible jaws, glared at him with cobalt eyes. In seconds, it was on top of him, throwing strikes with weapons that appeared in it's hands. Hadrian deflected every blow, using the shortest distance between each strike, to deflect the magically imbued Sunfire filled swords striving to cleave him in twain.

Riposting, parrying, deflecting, and returning blows became a tedious chore, as the being matched Hadrian in physical prowess. Soon, even after he began laying glancing blows with sufficient power, he came to the conclusion that the reptile was playing with him. Grimacing, he looked for a way to create an opening. Mounting an offence, he built as much momentum as he could before initiating his plan.

Finally they jumped apart, giving respite. Hadrian glared furiously at the creature impeding him from aiding his kinsmen, and from helping his fellow citizens.

"GO BACK TO THE SHADOW!" He roared, sending a blast of powerful compressed wind, in the form of a titanic sheering vacuum pressure blast downrange at the being.

The cloaked bastard simply cleaved it in half.

 **"Do yo not know death, when you see it, old man?!"** The creatures abnormally loud and piercing voice questioned. It seemed to come from every and yet, from nowhere.

A Master of whatever Magics it possessed then.

Hadrian wasn't having any of it, and amped the power on his spell, sending a snarling Dragon's Head Pressure Wave at the creature.

"RETURN, TO THE NOTHINGNESS WHICH AWAITS YOU AND ALL YOUR KIND, 'PON DEATH!" The Commander of Mages spoke angrily, smiting the creature with as much power as he could.

 **"This is MY hour!"** The creature thrashed around, and held a sword to the sky, calling lightning down.

"YOU WILL FALL AND FAIL!" Roared Hadrian, as he dropped as much mass and pressure upon the reptile, as he could muster and conjure.

It's cloak flared back, revealing a pattern of armour with alien glyphs glowing all over it, plates layered much like a Samurai's. The demonic mask was an accentuated elongated head, of a four-jawed reptile, with angry fiery eyes. Finally, it's power burst forth, destroying the other wizards pressure-control, and sent errant shocks of lightning all over.

 **" You have failed. The Realms of Man will Fall."** Malice and ill-will floated forth from the armoured Sorceror that had attacked him. Considering the lightning had paralyzed him, Hadrian could do nothing but wait for it to come over, and end hum

The beast marched over, slowly, holding his swords flared out, and soon stood over the decimated Wizard. One he held at Hadrian's neck, and one he held to the sky, yet again. Lightning began charging the blade, as the bastard made it clear he was to strike him down.

 **"Die now..."**

Suddenly, they heard it. A horn of rally, coming from the south-west of the mountain, where bunkers began to open up. Another one sounded, then another, and another, and soon, there were dozens sounding.

The beast gazed at him, then at the horizon, back at the Commander. Suddenly, it took flight with a screech and the beast was gone, and Commander Hadrian had to contend with his thoughts on this new experience and information.

 _~Out of the Mist...~_

 _~With the IIIrd's Mech's~_

The Duke of the colony was assembling this force personally, once he had heard the level of commitment, that his brethren had already given. He couldn't stand by, letting Hasek-Sandoval and Redburn's, sacrifice's become spent in vain. Duke Maurya knew this could be suicide, in fact it had to be, facing 3 millions alien soldiers and all.

As one of the commanders, and noble's absorbed from the United Hindu Collective, and part of the long-storied Maurya line, the Duke knew what etiquette and code demanded here. He had a force, and should use it as best as he could, achieving the maximum damage possible. As well, he had just received word that a Phoenix-Class Colony Ship, the _**SLS Spirit of Fire**_ , had just finished loading up at the StarPort. Coincidence? No, the Star League was investigating ruins on Harvest that predated colonization. However, their ships were spacious, durable, and well-armed. In it, using the PDF for cover, they could make a run for it.

To secure this, the Duke had to end the army attacking the mountain. Not injure, not wound, end the 3 million aliens attacking the complex. He didn't know if it was possible, even with 2,000 BattleMech's. Armies hadn't been large enough to take on the large garrisons on worlds of the Federated Suns, by massed infantry, in well... Ever. So, it was amazing that the combined tanks and infantry of these aliens steamrolled everything before them.

His mech's were assembling into lances, columns of troops that would strike deep through the enemy. The local Cyber Warfare sector of MI6, had cracked more and more of the enemy communications, as the day had gone on. They called themselves **"The Covenant"** , and the majority of soldiers they faced were **' _Unngoy_ '**, and _ **'Kig'Yar'**_. Forwarding all by-the-second processed data, to the local Hyperpulse Generator, the Duke checked through the rest of the data.

 _"Henson, take your men up the right flank, and wheel in upon our charge."_ He sent to one of the Colonels.

 _"Right sir."_ The stalwart officer replied grimly.

 _"Gunther, I want you and the Ducal Guard to follow me down the centre, once we engage."_ The Duke ordered his Guard Commander.

 _"Understood sir."_ The commander moved to relay orders to his group of Atlas-guard.

 _"Enburgh, you take your men into the city, and wheel through from our rear, meet up with us after you finish we will need you."_

This information was being forwarded to all the MechWarrior's that were joining him. It was only thanks to General Hasek-Sandoval's brilliant plan, that they were hidden away, in the radiation-sealed bunkers that would be in a flanking position to march on the mountain. The Duke addressed his men, as they massed in lances and organized underneath their commanders.

 _ **"ARISE, KNIGHTS OF THE FEDERATED SUNS!"**_ He roared, making his Mech jog about in front of their lines.

 _ **"ARISE, AND HEAR MY CALL"**_ Coming to a stop in front of the waiting force, he began to gesture and address his soldiers.

 _ **"Men... Women... Those who are of the Federated Suns Knights. We stand on a threshold here, with a chance to fight the grandest delaying action of this age. It is for certain, I think, that we face death. There are no reinforcements, the Artur has gone down honourably, and we are the last few to stand against the darkness. I have been informed that a Star League Colony ship, which is about the size of one of their Super Carriers, is standing ready to take as many of our civilians off-planet as it can carry. We are to provide the time, and distraction, necessary to facilitate this. What does this mean, you will ask? We must last until midnight, when the ship's hanger will open, and it will launch, then use a Jump."**_ Maurya stood straight and proud, as he addressed his

A "Jump" meant HyperJump, from the JumpDrive, the first FTL system humanity had invented to get out of Sol. Slipspace was able to traverse greater distances, but needed exceptional navigational data, whereas Jump's were instantaneous but could only get within a maximum of 30 LY. They took a while to recharge, and their superconducting cores were touchy, until they were upgraded. Slipspace was used just as much as HyperJump tech, and most were fitted as dual-drive systems these days, but this may surprise their enemies.

They appeared to only use Slipspace.

 _ **"Know now, that the actions you carry into this battle, will echo across a thousand battlefields from now... Know that your actions are not meaningless... Know that you are allowing helpless civilians to escape, and write of the Knight's of the IIIrd Harvest RCT, and that you will set the tone for how we deal with this enemy. With strength, blood, honour, and steel. Or cowardice, defeatism, narcissism, and petty in-fighting between ourselves. A SWORD DAY, A RED DAY, ERE THE SUN RISES!"**_ Maurya raised his sword, and began to make his way from left to right, clinging his weapon with the front ranks while many began to cheer and holler with the motion rippling through the 2,000 giant forms.

 _ **"CHARGE NOW!"**_ Striking their swords harshly, he passed Henson's troop.

 _ **"CHARGE NOW!"**_ Hitting the saluting guards swords, he passed them by.

 _ **"CHARGE!"**_ Passing Enburgh and his contingent, he stared their cockpits in the eye with his, meeting their professional determined gazes throughout.

 _ **"CHARGE FOR RUIN AND THE APOCALYPSE!"**_ Holding his sword high in front of the 2,000 BattleMech's, he slammed it into the shield.

 _ **"DEATH!"**_ He struck the shield thricely, and the soldiers began to hold their swords to their shields.

 _ **"DEATH!"**_ The troops thunderous salute echoed throughout the bunker.

 _ **"DEATH!"**_ Smashing their shields with one more round, they all began to roar in tune with the Duke.

 _ **"DEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHH"**_ Roared his soldiers, raising their shields and swords as one.

 _ **"DEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_ Roared the Duke over his comm, as he turned and faced the doors of the compound.

 _ **"I know where I'M headed."**_ With that said, Duke Maurya turned his Atlas around, and started to jog his 100 tonnes of AssaultMech towards the rear flank of the enemy.

The other's, all noble men and women raised to be proud and honourable knights of the realm, surged forward with him. Clad in the finest Ferro-Fibrous, near 30 tonnes apiece, with tough Endoskeletons, and a plethora of severely weaponry they also possessed heavy articulated fists the size of dump-trucks.

Trundling over the ground, they began to move out of the radiation-sealed bunker, maintaining a restrained pace as they anticipated enemy contact.

Many were armed with the finest various melee weapons the Base-Artificer had made, and were ready for close encounters of a IIIrd kind...

The 2,000 AssaultMech's jogged into the open, and took up proper positions, swinging 500 of their number far and wide into the city with 500 taking up a position outside and facing the plains and mountains of Harvest, while 1,000 moved in slowly to positions near the Covenant rear(to the right of Salamandastron.. Once the two packs were adjacent, they charged forth, bursting from the forest and gaining the element of total surprise, from an enemy that thought them beaten and not able to field units anymore.

 ** _"FORTH EULALIA!"_** The Duke gave the signal for the forces to advance, and they began to run at their opponents.

They were unprepared completely not expecting these strange, yet wonderful and exotic, titans of awe and war.

 _ **"DEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_ Roared the charging horde, as they ran at the scared and confused Covenant line.

Someone with a little bit of sense began to organize their lines, and the masses set up thousands of rapid-firing ranks of ape-creature's, with heavy weapons interspersed throughout their formations. A volley of green blobs hurtled at the Mech's who were charging, showing the aliens had some competency spread throughout their horde.

Shrugging the blows, the Mech's were hit, and 1-2 even fell from chance shots to their cockpits.

 _ **"DEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_ Roared the Colonel of the 1st Eulalian Fusiliers, as he charged alongside his soldiers, piloting their Mech's towards the alien horde.

The aliens began bringing their heavier weapons forward now, trying to bring down the human forces as they charged and roared at them. Brilliant beams of energy shot from the Locust's, and great big chunks of plasma were launched by the Wraith's. The Humans raised their shields over their head, those who were in the middle of the groups getting relayed orders to raise shields, and the ones in front putting theirs tightly in front of the significant portions of the Mech's.

 _ **"DEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTH!"**_ Roared Duke Maurya as the BattleMech charge neared the enemy lines. The fear on the face of the aliens was apparent now, as some were stopping their fire, and pointing at all directions the humans were approaching from. Others began to break and run, knowing what was about to happen, dropping heavy weapons sprinting for a vehicle to mount and escape. There wasn't an end to the human machines that they could see, and the speed they were approaching told them that they would be crushed underfoot.

Then the charge hit.

The AssaultMech's had swords and shields, content to batter into the huge horde, and shrink behind the extra tonnes of external armour, while swatting swathes of aliens and vehicles away with their 35' Broadswords. Scattering the enemy as they slammed through them not slowing down the slightest bit. Kicking vehicles aside, and cutting them in half, as they struck out to the left and right while continuing their advance. Eventually, the shields were worthless, having heated up too much or been shredded. So the BattleMech force discarded it, and began to use conventional firepower, alongside their melee implements.

Continuing to surge forward through the alien horde, they keep a constant stream of weapons fire up, to rake as much firepower over the legions exposed hides as possible. Their weapons lit up, one after another, as they spat blue and green energy-bolts at them. Adding the staccato of RAC-7's, and powerful Gauss Rifles, they sliced through the tanks in the Covenant's formations. Their swords lashed out and destroyed groups of Ghosts trying to escape, stabbing Spectre's and Wraiths, and smashing through skittering Locust's.

It was not long, before the chaos began to spread, in the Covenant ranks. The Unngoy, and Kig'Yar are being driven before these new enemies, powerful and dexterous machines of war. They could move in many directions, but have so much weight and power when amassed in large groups, that it is impossible to counter them. Their shields were ineffective, their guns only scratching and heating the hides of the charging giants. Their heavy weapons platforms were too slow, or too weak before the onslaught and could do little but fire desperately, or flee in vain.

Barrage after barrage of missiles, lasers, protons, gauss slugs, and heavy calibre fire drove all before them. Their weapons swivelled quickly, scything through the Covenant, as they continued to charge. Unrelenting barrages of missiles struck deep, as the heavy gauss slugs reached out and touched anything in sight, crushing so many of aliens.

Explosions threw the Covenant's formations into disunity, as the slugs from the high-calibre railgun rifles blasted hypersonic metal into the units, tearing trenches up in their wake while causing aliens to burst like over-boiled sausage.

The MechWarrior's were filled with an immense rage, looking to make this the greatest route in the history of warfare. 2,000 AssaultMech's destroying 3 Million invading soldiers, they'd surely be enshrined in the legends to come.

Was it to be?

Trampling thousands underfoot, the charge continued unabated, as the Knights unleashed seemingly-unlimited amounts of Gauss, Railcannon's, Auto-cannon, Lasers, PPC's, and Missiles. Covenant died by the grandest of totals, cluster kills by the massive handful.

 _ **"FORTH EULAAAAAAAAAAAAALIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAA!"**_ The Duke roared over the comm channel.

It was then that the entire alien horde tried to react, firing willy-nilly, enacting as many hasty shots aimed in the general directions of the charging Mech's as possible. They couldn't disguise their fear, seeing the massacre unfold and their shots dropped off as Mech's made their way towards them, driving the Covenant forces to slaughterhouses over the killing field. Their fear-ridden corpses laid across the ground, decorating the landscape, as the AssaultMech Force worked to clear the massive amounts of aliens around the city.

Block by block, the Apartment-Building-Sized machines swept the outskirts of _**Salamandastron** _ and the Megopolis, looking for survivors. It was then they discovered the truth of the evacuation. 8 billion civilians had "made it" to the outskirts of the Fortress's protection, but then been massacred by the invaders with ruthless efficiency, once they had in turn made it to the mega-city.

These **"Covenant"** had begun to ethnically cull humans from the face of the system.

As they chased the last of the Covenant's tanks and open formations, they began to be drawn more into the Fortress-City. Lots of the enemy units were dispersing to the area, with it's easy to grab fortifications. Maurya smirked, as it would do them no good. He had split his forces, and they swept around the area inhabited now by the Covenant's troops, even as the soldiers of Henson wheeled into their rear. An elegant pincer movement.

Splendidly, the enemy were being cut down within a Turkey-shoot, having been caught between the line of Mech's coming from the city and those at their rear. Those in the city blasted the alien positions, with much of the buildings they inhabited going with them, crushing or killing the remaining Covenant inside. They could rebuild later. The Covenant may now realize that BattleMech's were effective against buildings, however... And adjust strategy accordingly. With that said he ran a sensor sweep of the battlefield, as his units mopped up the holdouts in a skyscraper, ganging up upon the Covenant strong-point and firing until the large and titanic building collapsed. Seeing a large land readout, he turned towards its origin.

It was then, they saw them. Sensors soon beeped, and informed them all, that there was a huge force of over-sized Quadrupedal Machines approaching the City. 75, to be exact. Once shown their size, and crunching a few numbers with his AID, the Duke commanded they meet them on the field near the forest. The Mech's retreated, and set up reforming their lines, while the massive mechanical titans approached.

The Walkers took a while to get to the forces position, but they struck uniformly once they did. As once, their main heads lit up, and spat blue-white beams of pure death. 165 Mech's exploded from this, showering the rest with molten metal, displaying the power of the beams their enemy was in possession of. The Duke immediately sounded the charge, wanting to destroy their advantage and take the fight to them. The 1,635 Mechs took off at a hurried pace, sprinting at a brisk 85 km/hr, towards these behemoths, as they had by now lost 365 of their number(200 to wiping out the infantry and tanks, 165 wiped out by the Ultra-Quads).

 _"They must be the size of a Super-Heavy Tank, for sure. I've only seen that shadow on a Terran SheVa..."_ Thought Duke Maurya as the BattleMech's attacked their bigger brethren. All sorts of weapons flew at them now, targeting their legs, even as they attempted to flick and flatten them. Beams of energy flew from their eyes, as their tail turrets flung bolts of super-heated ionized gasses, incinerating tonnes of armour on every Mech it targeted.

Entering into a deadly dance, the Mech's mobbed their larger cousins, and lit them up with mass firepower. The enemy attempted to unload their main guns once more upon the smaller Mech's, but they would not the turreted weapon-arc's reacquire them, denying the beasts their most powerful asset.

The beams of energy and such weren't enough, and after the initial gap of distance was closed(with another 225 casualties), the Scarabs(the AIs had found unit designations on the aliens chatter networks) began to fight desperately. Swarmed by machines that are near the firepower of it's ancillary weapons, most of them couldn't designate any targets for their main guns, and were having their legs shredded.

With a titanic groan of metal, the last alien machine collapsed, and the AssaultMech Force breathed a sigh of relief.

It was now just reaching 23:00 on Oct 11th of 2525. The first day of the Covenant Invasion was over.

~Scene Change~

Duke Maurya immediately marshalled the Mech Force, and brought it to the StarPort. Captain Cutter was awaiting him there.

"Duke Maurya, I'm glad to see you survived, I'm warmed with the knowledge that you were able to see through the destruction of the enemies ground army." Capt. Cutter exchanged salutes with him, before offering a hand, which the Duke shook vigorously.

"We wouldn't have gotten as far as I wanted, without our CyberWarfare Ops, but thanks to those personnel from MI6, we got several key bits of information. Their are several I'd like to thank for my survival. Some posthumously, unfortunately. Enough of that talk, we must discuss a way off this planet." Cutter nodded, but didn't know where this was going.

"Normally the IIIrd RCT's Mech's would follow the Carrier-Group that was stationed here, to wherever our deployment or debriefing is. However, given that our only ship Artur was annihilated, and we have no one to serve and protect as the population has been exterminated. Granted, we want our own protection and survival, but first we only wanted to know how large your ship was." Cutter was making to frown and deny the Duke's request as he was a Star League Captain after all, but was then bewildered when he only asked for the size of the ship.

"We are about 5 KM, weighing about 12 GT." The Duke nodded, as Captain Cutter spoke.

"How many more civilians can you fit on your vessel?" The Duke asked, and Cutter started, but began to answer.

"We currently have room for about 10 million citizens, including our current compliment. After all, we were a colony transport ship the size of a super-carrier." Captain Cutter rattled off, as he thought back to his ship schematics, while Duke Maurya nodded again.

"Good. We have around 500,000 Civilians left, that have made their way to the PDF." Cutter's eyes widened.

When they said all the civilians had "made it", they meant it. Just that it was "all civilians remaining made it". They did not want to release the official dead at the time, as such a number, could easily spread onto the HoloNet and cause panic.

"So, it's like that, then." Cutter was a veteran, and had lived through part of the Age of War. The Duke smiled mirthlessly.

"Yes. They have the zeal of Capellan Warrior Houses. Little regard for civilians. It may just simply be that they regard all as beneath them." The Duke pondered, as they entered a lift, and made their way to the giant colony ship. Cutter set his face grimly.

"It's sad that this is what we can expect from the unknown, after all this time exploring. For a bunch of aliens, called the Covenant, to act like the worst of us. What are the odds?" Cutter questioned, as he looked over at the FS Duke.

"I don't know the answer. For all I know, they could be some crazy conspiracy theory aliens from times of old, back to haunt us. I would rather us find the answers first, then build plans from there. Cutter, do you have room for MechWarrior's to accompany you?" The Duke looked at Cutter now, pinning to the wall, gauging his reactions.

"Yes, we do have room, and despite having factory modules we need offensive capabilities. With your remaining 1,635 Mech's, you would be most welcome. I must say, I misjudged you, Duke Maurya. I expected a glory-seeking, self-serving, and pompous man who was here only buoyed by his title. Instead, I find a compassionate and driven leader, one who is competent, capable and concerned with the welfare and directions his people will take whilst doing all he can to protect them. I am happy to have underestimated you. You are someone I will certainly enjoy conversing with, and are now definitely going to make a great addition to the crew." Cutter addressed the man frankly, as they stared each other down, before the elevator dinged and opened.

"Well met Captain. I look forward to serving with you, and your comrades. Let's meet them, shall we."

They began to make their way to the bridge.

The last survivors of Harvest boarded the ship, sensors and energy-flares throwing up dozens of signatures for the patrolling Covenant vessel to pick up, so they could get through it's powerful gaze.

The _**SLS Spirit of Fire**_ Jumped out of the system, towards another outer colony planet, whose coordinates had been recovered.

This ended the first day of the Covenant Invasions. The Halo Wars have begun.

 **WELCOME TO**

 **BATTLETECH WARS:**

 **COMBAT EVOLVED**

 _~End~_

 **AUTHOR NOTE** : Edited. The reason for Gigatonnes, is it's a good stand-in for saying 9,500,000 tonnes, or 42,000,000 tonnes every time. The displacement for ships in BattleTech is very similar, but using their standard of weight is only a guideline. The Covenant's ships are heavy, but not as heavy in mass-per-foot, so the 13.5 km Battleship(which is what I'll be calling them from now on-BB) won't be as heavy as they've estimated.

The assets used here would have been used to siege Harvest over the first years of the conflict, much like Halo Wars. Here, they have been annihilated, causing shifts in both sides.

As well, I am going to take some time and explain the naval concepts of this story. Due to our history, and the way I view any other technologically-developed society, is that example and results beget further improvement even from peoples who are stagnant... Especially if they are at war. The Halo-verse has a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOT of idiot-ball stuff going around in it's lore, but the simple most frustrating thing I find? Humanities lack of improvement.

They so scathingly refer to the Covenant as "imitative, not innovative", yet the best they can do at most times, is to imitate technology they come across(Forerunner, Covenant-vintage). Think this is not true? They spent 25 goddamn years fighting the Covenant, without significant innovation or inventions. Everything they possess in the war, they developed or had precursor-tech for, and the friggin' Scorpion was a model of tank from the 23rd Century!

So, as a whole, I disagree even with Bungie(who may have been leading towards a better expose of humanities tech and reasons of well-crafted plot as to why the war went as it did, rather than the idiocy that we get from 343-Microsoft[just as bad as when EA took over C&C, creatively that is], and they are lucky they haven't killed the franchise) about the war and humanities slow development in the stars. Even BattleTech has relatively more advanced technology(excepting sublight, and slipspace), and they were under a silent Spanish Inquisition in regards to technology that nobody knew about for a long time. What this boils down too, is especially during war, people adapt and think of new ways to aid their nation. In Total War, there are few avenues unexploited when you want to save people and kill the enemy, very powerful emotions in protecting and rage.

Therefore it is ludicrous for no increase in the technological exploitation, and no change in war doctrine. For the original humanity, I would have suggested that instead of working within the confines of the UEG economic system, that Hood take over complete control and nationalize it, so they didn't have to juggle actual money when facing an alien juggernaut. Second, I would ramp up the production of nuclear materials, for use as mines of all type. Nukes had a variable effect upon the Covenant, and I think used more effectively they would easily make humans very much more so dangerous on the ground, and in space.

For example, if Covenant like to land and disgorge troops on planets, either give the planets a nuclear arsenal in the form of a bomber fleet supported by interceptor aircraft, or mine your planets and the likely location that the fools will appear in. They certainly had enough nukes, as each of their ships had several nukes, so just redistribute the Shiva into a more practical and cutthroat weapon instead of playing nice and giving the bastards the potential of shooting it down! It is likely that they will just keep trying to land, assuming humans only have one such device. In space, stealth mines that use the Prowlers hiding-tech, could impact and shred the Covenant shields en masse. With miniature sublight engines(repulsor engines), they could surround a planet, and vector to the enemy position with ease.

Third, instead of Wunderwaffe, I would look for practical implements and tools to force-multiply my soldiers against the Covenant, using what technology we had. A heavier rifle for one, with more compensators in it, and a larger magazine would make them capable of killing multiple Covenant per shot since their larger rounds over-penetrate! The important thing being here, better ships and better ground units. Taking over the economy would give Hood better access to materials direct, and he would be able to gain more to fight the war with far better effectiveness.

Therefore, I am absolutely sure that if is the wise and learned commander we think, he wouldn't pour over half the fucking budget into one ship! Getting the scientist's(who are purported to be genii unparalleled) to tear apart the effect and probable mechanics of the enemy plasma, they would be try and produce an improved armour that could resist energy. The UNSC has space-manufacturing, and at one point Halsey adds nanobots to the MJOLNIR so it can repair itself and improve. There is now way they cannot produce a better alloy(and explanation) than Titanium-A which is space-fairy-magic-bullshit. The multi-layered and radiation-treated armours of BattleTech are far more advanced even without the faster ships and larger cannon the UNSC has, while their energy-weapons blow anything the UNSC has out of the water(even if their ships fight like heavily armed Man O' Wars, firing broadsides and the like at each other) and they use the same technological base that humanity has in Halo if not a weaker one.

So, here with a set of humans experienced in naval warfare(and a different Earth history that accelerated development in different directions) and a more autocratic economic system, we will see humanity continuously innovate their own ships, with the science, power, and enemies they come across. The reason the struggle is so hard at the start, is that I have wanted to work with Xytan Jar Wattinree as a character for a long time, and I believe he had a small chance at becoming the Arbiter in canon with Regret upon the Hierarch Council. With his influence, it would have been easy to convince Mercy to agree, since Wattinree never even asked to be worshipped and served the Prophets faithfully always. However, bringing a character like that in, and purporting him to Halo's version of Grand Admiral Thrawn, then killing him off... Was like hanging a tasty doughnut over a hungry and starving person who had just survived 4 nights in the woods(in that it may not be good for you/the story, but is nonetheless delicious in both taste/concept!). At the same time I understood that if they had used him during the actual wars, he would have destroyed anyone he came across, even Admiral Cole(yes, Xytan is reportedly that good, as he was said to be never wrong during hundreds of campaigns).

With both sides continuously adapting, and trying to make their navies survive each other, while one maintains superiority and the other fights to overcome it. On the ground, I will begin introducing improvements after this campaign, once we get to around Sigma Octanus and Northwind. The BattleTech Wars campaign will include all of Halo Wars. Naval designs that are unique to a species during this whole story will not be abandoned, simply reworked and improved. Your probably thinking, "How does a Turian cruiser with a Mass Effect Core refit into a Covenant Destroyer?" or some-such.

Well, to put it simply, you begin scaling up the design with the new principles you learn. And, if say one section is too thin and cannot hold the strain of the ships movement, you increase it's size and support until it performs as expected. That's why it's called Prototyping and Experimentation. If a Turian group of naval designers got their hands on say some Covenant technology first here(not a spoiler, just hypothesis), they would begin trying to invent better ship frames with Nanolaminate and the incredible structural materials they make, while producing Pinch-Fusion reactors of various scales to power the ships and it's weapons.

When it comes to war and survival, species and people are willing to throw out everything they know and utilize what they can learn, to throw off the oncoming enemies power. I'm not saying it would be instantaneous, but the Citadel and the like possess infrastructures that could begin implementing what they didn't know until recently before being introduced to new science. Even so, when everyone meets the Tollans, they'll be in for a damn surprise. Their civilization is post-scarcity, and I think it was Hotpoint who theorized that they had developed Unified Field Theory Reactors, giving them unlimited energy. Which does make sense to me, as that would be one of the higher tiers a civilization can achieve.

Controversially and against my better judgment, I'm going to tell you right now how the drives of the Human Fleet compare to the other franchises they'll be meeting.

Yes, they gain the Forerunner 900 LY/Day drive.

No, it is not superior to everything else.

The Goa'uld drive can go 1,000 LY/Day before it was improved by Sokar, Apophis, and Anubis. The Asgard can go 100,000 LY/minute, if their near-instantaneous travel from Ida to Terra is any indicator. I know Teal'c said that Apophis and the System Lords would take much time, and expend great effort, in order to come to Earth. I think this is more from his perspective of time, and how he see's his leaders do things before battle(there may be more to dispute that from the Stargate novels, and I'd be happy to know about it! However, as we know, Teal'c views a lot of things differently and is constantly looking to improve his knowledge of Earth culture during the show), and how disparate and extreme in distance the Earth is compared to the Goa'uld domains.

Abydos is the closest stargate, and it's on the other side of the Galaxy.

So, I think that the Alterans had an empire shaped like a crescent, that started at Earth, curved left and wide around the Galaxy, and ended at Abydos considering it is closest and the other worlds are farther away. The only explanation viable to me(with only the SG-1 and some Atlantis information, mind you), is that the Goa'uld inhabit the Galactic North. Here in this story, the Forerunner Empire would have inhabited the rest of the Milky Way, forming a large bulge against the Alteran crescent, but still spreading their rings throughout the galaxy because of their victory over the Alterans in their war.

Star Wars, possesses the HyperDrive, which will be related to both the Alteran and Terran drives. They are about halfway between the BattleTech Hyperdrive and the Alteran Hyperdrive, given that they are still effected by gravities effects and star systems. They are still working at improving their drives to the point where they can navigate easier, and can stay in Hyperspace for a while, but ultimately aren't as fast or efficient when compared with Alteran drives. Just because their drives are more primitive than the Alterans, doesn't mean they are automatically below them, as they have several technologies that are greater. In terms of technological level, they outstrip everyone and everything. People down-play all the time what they have in Star Wars, and honestly that's just fanboyism(mind you everything in my head fits a certain way, and I don't budge either, so I'm just more of a broader fanboy) for the franchises they cherish, as they have mastered some of the most difficult energies and weapons possible.

Their energy shields are actually extremely effective, stopping MEGATONNES and GIGATONNES, of firepower.

Their armour plating was developed over an extreme period of time, and has faced overpowered slugthrowers over it's history(Mando's anyone?).

A single Star Destroyer from the Empire Era can extinguish a city with only a few of it's cannons.

I saw a funny meme a little while ago, and it said something like "This time the Battle of Hoth is gonna go different", and it showed an A-10 Warthog jumping on an AT-AT with the imperials going 'OH SHIT'! While being a laugh, it didn't make sense, considering the armour of the starships had been reduced in cost enough by that time to armour the Empire's ground contingent and protected their hulls with something called neutronium-plate. Probably not similar to the neutronium theorized by our sciences, it is named for it's star-like density and usefulness comparable to a systems star, considering it's light enough to be replaced by engineers with the proper gear.

Star Wars possesses bottled Hypermatter. Energy extracted from Hyperspace, and put into powerful containers, before used in an atom-atom reaction with normal-space matter. Damned if that doesn't sound like something superior to the Lantean Arcturus Project, and it's exotic energy extraction. The only thing superior in terms of power-generation, because yes Vacuum-Energy is inferior to Hypermatter in the terms that Hypermatter can be extracted easier from it's source and used in a reactor while Vacuum-Energy has costly creation and management methods(re. Forerunner and Alteran experiments with it), is a Hypermatter tap.

Combining the extraction and reactor technologies so the ship can fuel as it goes, using a system of collection similar to Destiny while in Hyperspace, this would make star-ship technology near post-scarcity as having infinite energy to power them would remove many of it's problematic operational concerns during it's lifetime.

This is not a utopic timeline by any means. If it gets to the state of post-scarcity, it will be a loooooooong time from now, and I can still find enemies to fight even then. Worry not reader, there is a lot still to come, and everything will be utilized as only the best of their franchises deserves. It is also why I stopped after the inclusion of Star Wars(for now), as that is as many types of technology as I want to include right now(and I badly wanted to include Trek, alongside a few others, but they were not conducive to a coherent stor[my stories coherent, because I say it is :D]y), being as far as my brain can expand.

Now that I've dropped my opinion on the tech and relative standing of the canons, don't take this as an invitation to suddenly bombard me with fact and screaming reviews about the categorization. I use general high-end calcs for stories like this, as it makes it a challenge to keep it balanced and fair across the board, while telling a compelling story-line. I will not rise to the bait of those who just throw out countless reasons as to why the Ancients are stronger, Forerunners more powerful, and the Rakatan being able to rule over all. There is no point, as I have made up my mind(otherwise, why write a fucking story?), and will not budge when it comes to my assessment of the technological prowess and ability each and every faction possesses. But go ahead and review anyway if you feel like yelling at a brick wall, as any reviews are welcome. I may not agree, or like your comments and propositions, but I will never shut down a comments section or some bullshit like that. I will just say thanks for reviewing.

Upwards and Onwards!


	5. Chapter 5

**Mantle Across A Starry League**

 **Disclaimer** : I own no franchise or original content that appears within. They belong to their creator's, and owners.

 **Summary** : Megaverse. A grand vision, on how Mass Effect, and others will be affected by a humanity forged from the influences of 1980's-2000's Sci-Fi and such. Prepare for BattleMech's, Powered Armour's, Fusion, Energy Weapons, Psychics, Magics, and more. How will the Citadel deal with a humanity that has seen and has Cyborgs, Super-Soldiers, BattleMech's, WarShips, with more to come?

Welcome to BattleTech Wars:Combat Evolved.

 **AUTHOR NOTE** : Ok, so last chapter was the intro. Imagine this is a game. All the scifi and fantasy is going to be present, but separate in this war. An explanation.

 ** _The Covenant ship.-_** Was on steroids, I know, it shouldn't have shrugged particle cannons, lasers, and heavy railcannon's with 1,000 tonne rounds. Well, I edited, and changed things around. However, humanity will still not be able to quite match the Covenant in space. One of the eminent reasons, is in this chapter.

 ** _The numbers on the ground.-_** One thing I wanted to make apparent in my story, and apparent from the older Halo games and novels, was the Covenant essentially utilized absolutely _massive_ numbers of Grunts, and Jackals, for nearly the entire war against Humanity. Wraith Tanks, and Locusts provided the line reinforcement they needed, essentially allowing them to practice an essentially tossed version of tank doctrine(the British and French used it Pre-WWII until France got flattened, and even then the British struggled to implement these lessons in Africa as Rommel ran roughshod on them), where the units only reinforce the infantry and are not used as massed attack spears. With their advanced plasma-technology, they held advantage against anything humanity has in the original Halo.

Here, in this version of Humanity, not only do the races and realms have advanced tech, they have vast experience in interstellar war. They know how to spot weaknesses right quick, they know how to control the flex and strain of the battle, and despite disadvantages... Can make the most out of a disadvantageous situation. Ideally, I view this as a Soviet Union(Covenant Empire) attacking Nazi Germany(Humanity) in 1941 with it's massive amount of men and materials, instead of what actually happened in Barbarossa historically.

So look at the Covenant's Invasion as a sort-of Reverse-Barbarossa.

 _ **BattleMech's OP-**_ Yes, for now, the BattleMech is OP. The Covenant have no answer for it, besides Ortillery(Orbital Artillery), and Scarab's are far slower which is what will drive each and every Mech Commander to be more and more efficient in the way they control their units and machines in battle. Thus keeping them from a quick extinction, and allowing evolution. Even though the books and games focus on legendary-like hero's, I wanted to focus on battle's between an actually competent humanity and an aggressively led Covenant, which is balanced by the naval power and prowess each has alongside their groundside defences and offensive strike techniques.

In replacing the base tech of this universe's humanity, I wanted to give humanity a chance, once it meets the cultures of other parts of the Galaxy. Bathed in Interstellar War, they will meet the other storylines with an advanced fleet, multi-polar interests and a sense of unity from facing the Covenant Juggernaut.

As well, the BattleMech will continue to evolve from here.

 _ **That Potter Scene-**_ All will be explained eventually, but for now, Supernatural and Mundane are mostly separate due to ancient treaties.

 _ **Music-**_ I highly encourage that you play the music selections I chose for each chapter. They specifically bring the visions of the characters I see in my brain to life in the vast landscape of the mind, so I can transmit this to you the reader, and oft times they are what helps to give the reader a great atmosphere and experience. It's just my preference, I always feel that experience is enriched with music, and it certainly helps me when I write.

 **Chapter-5 BattleTech Wars:Part 1-Fallout**

" _The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."-Winston Churchill_

 **Planet Novo Franklin**

 **Nadir Jump Point**

 **0030, 12th October, 2525**

The **SLS** **Spirit of Fire** burst forth from the dimension known as Hyperspace, discharging static as it began to charge it's JumpDrive, and beginning preparations for the next leg of the journey. Currently, the Captain and Duke had decided that the planet of Novo Franklin was to be their destination. Entering the system, the ship vectored to the nearest StarPort, for supplies and rest.

The ships bridge was fairly busy, with the influx of **FS** personnel somewhat unbalancing the commands, as they all tried to be useful to spare their boredom. It took an order from the Duke, to keep their officers involved in strictly Suns business, and things ran much smoother with no second-guesses happening thereafter.

The personnel began to follow SOP's for Red Scenario's, this one for hostile first contact. The Slipspace Drive was being charged now as well, with multiple destinations being plotted for it's drive-core.

Captain Cutter moved briskly to the statesroom, accompanied by Duke Maurya, to discuss their next moves while chatting amicably and making small talk. As they entered room, the previous days events, as a matter of course came up along with other _noticed_ coincidences.

The Duke was interested in the Star League's presence on Harvest, digging in the mountainous rumoured ruins, in the escarpment separating the super-continent. He was thinking hard on that, when the Captain sat down, gesturing to the richly stocked pantry of the officers room. The Duke shook his head no, and began to pressure his friend with questions.

"What were you doing in the mountains? I am beginning to suspect that these aliens, this **Covenant** , have not appeared at random!" Maurya narrowed his eyes, while staring at the Terran-borne **SLS** Captain, as Cutter's face went blank with his arms and body settling into a neutral position. His stance betrayed nothing, but was too secure. The fact that he went to such lengths to guard any reaction, meant something had been found, a sort of non-confirmation. Maurya's eyebrows rose.

 **Sigh** "We were digging through some old ruins, discovered in the escarpment by early Davion settlers, and used in a deal with the Hegemony to fund this colony. Your ancestor's funded this colonies advancement, and installations, with money drawn from shared excavation of the ruins. It wasn't a particularly effective agreement for us Terrans, until you folks invented Diatomic Fusion, allowing any old bits of Hydrogen to be used as fuel. That which propelled the economies of the Inner Sphere forward enough that, so we could afford major stations at all of the Star Leagues projects and there we were..." His eyes looked over the table, as he lit a cigar, an import from Titan named Sweet Will-something or other.

"We managed to get some of the equipment we discovered working, as our funding had allowed for invention of better transformers, and coupling units. However, within 48 hrs of turning it on, Admiral Redburn declared the Red Alert in system." Duke Maurya looked stonily upon the forlorn Captain of the colony ship, as both experienced various shades of emotions. Resolving it internally, the two leaders met each others gaze,

"After that ship appeared, we withdrew every asset, and try to recover the civilians that we could. However, there were none, and hence why I was surprised you brought 500,000 with you. The Covenant certainly are ruthless and efficient in their pursuit of genocide." Cutter sighed heavily, pondering their alien enemy. "Why was your force hidden, the way it was, and the main tank and artillery component of the _**IIIrd RCT**_ sacrificed?" Cutter needed to know why the General had made such a suicidal charge, and given how effective the Mech force was, they could've been used earlier.

Duke Maurya smiled.

"General Hasek-Sandoval was constantly being updated on the enemies army compositions and naval readouts. He saw how quick their ship tore through the systems satellites and planetary orbital installations. By giving the enemy the illusion of control, and desperation, we kept their focus separated and their navy unneeded until it was too late. The General saw they had no equivalent to the BattleMech, and astutely surmised they wouldn't be able to match them, so he hid our BattleMech force in the closest area to the fortress he could." The Duke nodded smugly, as Captain Cutter saw where he was going.

"It was a good thing you were able to manage a route. Those large Ultra-Heavy Quads of theirs, are _**not**_ to be taken lightly. Taking down that many Mech's, in a single salvo, is no mean feat. There are a lot of firsts to be recorded from yesterday. Good job bringing those ones down as well." Cutter congratulated the Duke, even as he thought of the power of their enemies weapons, and Maurya nodded gracefully.

"Why choose Novo Franklin? We could've gone further core-ward..." Maurya asked as he began to get settled into his chair, getting comfortable for the long conversation,which he was preparing to have with the good Captain. Cutter took a puff of his cigar, tapped his wrist, and projected the world in question from the Holoprojector embedded within the table.

"Franklin has a mentioning in the ruins we found. Not only that, there is a stronger presence of Star League vessels here, there are more Orbital platforms and your settlement here is not small by any means. I'm going to brief you on something deemed above top-secret to the **Star League** , Maurya, and nobility or not you could face execution should you get chatty with people who do not have a need-to-know." Cutter raised an eyebrow at the Duke, as if to question his maturity, while the Duke just smiled warmly and looked on serenely.

"I will be fine, as long as I am provided with a list of **Federated Suns** personnel to converse about this with, considering this kind of topic has always been at the back of my mind. You might as well get it over with, and give me someone to talk to, you know my kind are curious sort..." The Duke trailed off, grinning blatantly.

Cutter scowled.

"You'll be put on trial, if you fuck around with this, so take it seriously ya sonufabitch!" The Captain said furiously in consternation, shaking his head at the maturity of the noble in front of him. The Duke rolled his eyes, and motioned him to continue with a British wave.

"Hn. We have discovered that the race who these ruins belong too, were known as The Forerunners. Over one hundred thousand years ago, they appeared to be masters of the galaxy. They had various capabilities, but the stories tell of a Great War, one that set the Stars themselves alight against a Malefic and Terrible Enemy." The Duke now sat up, thoroughly engrossed. Three more people had entered, making their way to the Captains side, while one came to the Duke's side.

The Duke looked up.

"Oh, where are my manners. Captain Cutter, this is James Robinson, my greatest asset and best MechWarrior in the IIIrd." The newcomer made himself known, as he leaned forward, over the table, and shook the Captains hand.

Cutter raised an eyebrow.

"And, his rank..." The Duke smirked.

"Agent." Maurya said smugly. This tall, clean-cut, and impassive yet suave man was part of the vaunted FedSuns intelligence division, **MI6**. By his size, he was from the same division their own 'Agents' were from.

"Agent Robinson, these two are Doctor Ellen Anders, and Sgt. Major John Forge. I am of course, Captain Cutter." Several handshakes were shared, before the conversation resumed.

"So, we found out that the next bit of technological evidence, and hopefully more details on the Forerunners enemy, was on Novo Franklin. More evidence of them is supposed to be here." Cutter elaborated, detailing the various points on the planet's hologram he projected, where the estimations put the installations.

"Is it likely that **Novo Franklin** has anything alien upon it? We have been here since the Great Expansion during the Age of War, and found nothing like what you describe. Are you sure you have the right planet?" Agent James questioned the Star League Captain, as was his role, to detect any fallacy within his surroundings.

"We are **very** sure. It took a lot to determine where the specific coordinates led, and we had to rectify the data into something usable for JumpDrive, but this is the planet. My guess is that it will be underneath something, or in a hard to reach location overland." Cutter stated, before bringing Franklin up.

The planet showed a continent that was surrounded by Ocean, and set mostly in a northern hemisphere/lowland ecological setting. This gave it a hardy, yet plentiful mining colony feel, and lots of WorkMech's were present doing their job. The colony hustled and bustled, with several space elevators present, leading to shipyards constructing mining-tugs and other vessels.

The system was useful in extracting and refining the minerals used in Inner Sphere space industry, giving it a good standing in the economy of the local March of the FedSuns.

"This is good. There is ample space for the ship to land, and more than enough room for my Mech's to set up. However, there are few WarShips in this sector, and we cannot really look to last-minute reinforcements. So, we shall endeavour to try and bring them under the larger ground-based weapons in the PDF's, and mass our mobile defences around there." Cutter outlined

Duke Maurya nodded, then he began to talk in low tones with Cutter.

"How did you two get involved here?" Questioned the Agent, as he measured them up.

Sgt. Major Forge was a stocky, well-built, and standard looking leatherneck. James had run across them all over the place. They were standard-issue in every formation above 10,000, always having a Sgt. Major that looks like he is a bag of anvils, ready to drop any time. Full of information, wise and yet practised in their trade, these men were there to guide headstrong officers away from sacrificing all of their men in suicidal charges.

Forge was young for a leatherneck, but he had the look of a man who'd seen a hundred planets, and pissed on all of them.

Dr. Ellen Anders was different, thought James, as he deciphered her facial tells, muscles, and minute body movements. She couldn't quite hide various twitches in her fingers, a narrowing of her eyes, and thinning of her mouth when he said a few off-handed things.

Agents of _**MI6**_ were granted various capabilities, when they gained promotion to a certain rank. Therefore, with their enhanced perception, it was ludicrous **not** to include various _hellstromism_ training classes alongside psychological profiling and active forensic assessment. This battery of courses allowed the OO Section to become even more effective than their legendary records of performance, taking espionage and counter-insurgency to whole new levels, alongside the Agents extreme surgical effectiveness on the battlefield.

Robinson filed Anders' actions away mentally, tagging it on his micro-HUD for his AID's recording. She was dressed conservatively, as if an accountant tried to become a lab-assistant. A short white coat, with modest sleeves, with a black blazer, light blue shirt and snug pants beneath.

"The Sgt. Major and I have been on the **Spirit** since it started it's tour of duty. We have been through everything it has." Anders answered neutrally, while John smiled slightly, and sat back in the well-worn leather.

"That's good. You'll be able to help me get to the bottom of this, so we can all hopefully go home with a sufficient explanation for command, and maybe they won't string us both up by our necks." Robinson said while rubbing his chin in thought, leaning on the oaken surface of the table, and running several scenario's through his mind.

This frank statement caught the two off-guard, more Anders than John, as her concealed hostility was impeding the progress they could be making towards cooperating and surviving. James, instead of skirting around it, attacked it by baiting them.

"Excuse me? We have committed no fault here! Your the ones who came to us for information, you _**MI6**_ -scum!" She said scathingly, sneering at him, before realizing he had been baiting her, as even John was now staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah... Nice to meet you to, Ellen Anders, Agent of _**ONI Section III**_." James inclined his head gracefully, arching an eyebrow in contriteness, and displaying the perfect amount of serene imperiousness. Ellen began to growl, but realized Forge's face had dropped. He, like many a grunt, was **NOT** a fan of ONI.

"John, I, you see... I was going to tell you..." John glared at her, as she attempted to explain to him the how and why, of her coming into Naval Intelligence. However, she had aroused his fury, being the fact they had trekked over the wilds of 100's of worlds as they said...

And not one word was said about her real boss's.

A grunt couldn't abide a breach of integrity like that, it just isn't forgivable, but more than that... You cannot trust someone who would so readily use your trust, in your circle of friends, which is why most grunts dropped friends like a goddamn live grenade, when they abused their trust and lied to them.

"Stuff it. You can take that rank, turn it sideways, shine it up real nice and SHOVE IT STRAIGHT UP YOUR GOD-DAMN ASS!" The man roared, before standing in a fury, and marching straight out of the room.

Anders took a second to shoot the Agent a dirty look, before rushing quickly after Forge, shouting his name. James looked after them, shaking his head. Looking back, he now saw that Cutter and Maurya were finished their conversation, and had begun staring at him in curiosity and amusement.

"Was that necessary, Agent Robinson?" Cutter asked, sighing exasperatedly. James nodded immediately, steepling his fingers.

"Yes Sir. You see, I needed to expose her real loyalties, because from the moment she entered this room, to the second she sat down... I saw all the signs of someone who was ready to attack me. Sgt. John Forge was ready to protect you, _in case I attacked_ , but Dr. Anders was resisting the urge to assault me the whole time until I exposed her intentions." James smiled mirthlessly, and shook his head.

"Hence the need to expose her. We gave you a fair shake at knowing our intelligence assets in the area, but one sect of your side is still attempting to spy on everyone. _**ONI Section III**_ is going too far, and Fleet Admiral Kerensky needs to cut their throat, now." Robinson stated, addressing Cutter squarely.

"I don't know if I can convince the great Admiral to hamstring his favourite agency. We'll have to find a way to present more evidence, something other than just a few incidences of disobedience with a few agents, and unknown undercover operations ." Cutter stated, as he smoked his cigar, rubbing his chin with his left hand.

"They'll be a problem if you don't." James stated seriously. Cutter looked at Maurya, who motioned at James, and gave the Captain a thumbs up.

Cutter sighed.

"So, MechWarrior, ready for your first mission?"

 _~Scene Change~_

 **-The Good, The Bad, The Ugly Theme - Ennio Morricone START-**

 **Sangheilios**

 **Covenant Empire**

 **1400 hrs, 12th October 2525**

Upon the mighty and majestic capital world of the Sangheili, amidst it's gleaming citadels and imposing monuments, it seems there was an unprecedented event taking place.

Sangheilios was of course chosen for this momentous occasion, as the homeworld of the Sangheili had shining beacons of gleaming cities and culture centre's, being the repository of it's species most mighty warriors knowledge and deeds. Several Orbital Stations dotted the system, refining Tritium and Deuterium for Pinch-Fusion. Shipyards were present, and there were at least 75 Satellites attached to silvery spires, showing powerful orbital elevators going to glimmering Metropolis in low orbit around the planet.

After the _War of the Writ-of-Union_ , the Sangheili had endeavoured to embody the prowess of Forerunner Society(trying to reflect what small translations they had of their Warrior Caste), utilizing Covenant technology to produce wondrous advancement. Shield Generators, from Ships, to Personal sizes became accessible. Materials for newer plasma rifles had been made by their infrastructure, which prompted the building of the Sangheili orbital stalks.

The High Prophet of Regret was attending in person, having brought two guests to the planet, who wanted to voice concerns for Arbiter Ripa Moramee's failing at the Human world of Harvest.

How could he have missed over 2,000 Great Daemon human War-Machines, that had hidden themselves away in shadow, only to spring upon the army as it made it's way to the humans StarPort?

How could they have killed 3 million Unngoy and Kig'Yar, ten's of thousands of Wraith and Locust tanks, with their inferior human machines?

How could their forces destroy so many Scarabs?

Unngoy and Kig'Yar were certainly lowly, but as the _Burning of the Holy City_ proved, both had plenty of hardy and resilient warriors in their species. When gathered in sufficient mass, they were nearly unstoppable. Supported by dozens of Wraith and Locust, they should have swept everything before them.

The _**Fleet of Particular Justice**_ was here, it's brand new commander Thel Vadamee having gone and retrieved an old mentor-friend, when he had been apprised of the failure at Harvest. The Prophet of Regret had put the idea into his head, as he had made friends with the same being, early on in his career before becoming one of the Three Hierarch's(which led to his fanatical devotion to the Sangheili's strength).

Imperial Admiral Xytan Jar Wattinree, an undefeated Fleetmaster of the Covenant Empire, had deigned to travel to Sangheilios at the behest of the firebrand Regret. Disobeying his banishment because he damn well could especially when it came to Sangheili space, Xytan walked slowly with a purpose through the streets, drawing a huge following as he made his way to the High Council where the Arbiter was defending his idiocy.

Only the Councillors were not really letting him talk.

"There were plenty of Sangheili in that army, Arbiter! Those Wraith, and Locust were not piloted by lowly Unngoy or Kig'Yar!" Growled one of the larger and elder High Councillors, almost reaching the Arbiters height, being 7.9' tall. He pointed accusingly at the Arbiter, with a pearl-white armoured claw. "You have no honour, and care little for those who accompany you in this Holy Covenant! You are UNFIT, to be an Arbiter!"

Others began to growl, and snarl in ascent, as agreement spread through their ranks. Ripa Moramee looked around at the dissenters, scowling angrily, and glaring wildly at anyone looking his way. He didn't care, he would intimidate, or kill them all. He was untouchable.

Or so he thought.

 **BANG**

"I AGREE!" The doors to the chamber slammed open, and there standing tall, was Imperial Admiral Xytan Jar Wattinree. His armour was cobalt with azure patterns and glyphs, glistening with light of 1,000 stars, and as he strode in the cape fluttered in the wind. Massive even compared to the Arbiter, eventually he stood over the one named as such by the Hierarch's, in the middle of the chamber upon it's dais.

"So, you are what makes an Arbiter these days... Pitiful." Turning gracefully and slowly, he circled the tall and predatory Sangheili, with his hands fixed in an at-ease position.

He didn't feel threatened by Ripa, at all, it seemed

Xytan strode in front of the Arbiter, and walked to the edge of circular dais.

"Councillors. Comrades. My brothers. I am here to take up the Mantle of the Arbiter, to bring honour and intelligence back to Sangheili warfare, so no more will we be viewed as primitive as the Jiralhane or violent as the Yan'me. I am here to lead our people towards better choices, ones which will make our armies grander than ever, and once and for all squelch any question upon our honour and skill. I am here to forge us into the greatest force this universe has ever seen." He surveyed his audience, as he raised his arms.

"ARE YOU WITH ME!" With a roar of their approval Xytan smiled and closed his fists, igniting the twin plasma swords there, and spun around. Instantly, he was deflecting, and redirecting strikes from the furious Arb-, former-Arbiter, who was obviously furious about being voted out of his position(which was obvious from the standing ovation Xytan got from the Councillors).

Parrying, deflecting, riposte, feint, dodge, and parry. The elder Sangheili had an answer to all of Ripa's furious strikes, as he slipped his strikes, and made him feel like a fool. The battle began raging immediately, as the two giant males fought, one embalmed in fury and the other in cold clear focus.

"You will pay for trying to oppose me, OLD MAN!" Yelled Ripa, orange predator eyes boring into silver and black, as the Imperial Admiral matched his might with ease. Ripa ferociously struck out at his enemy with as many rapid blows as he could muster, hoping to overwhelm the older Sangheili, but the Admiral reacted with grace, poise, and precision.

Wattinree slipped, dashed, slashed, dodged, deflected, parried, and locked up again and again with the sociopathic Sangheili, as he began to weave his own strategy against the more feral warrior. His skill was apparent as Xytan's swordplay was far superior, like an art form, as if he had mastered every possible stroke one could complete with a plasma sword. Wattinree used the least amount of space to strike and dodge, knocking Ripa around the circle, pushing left and right repeatedly.

Moramee cursed, as he figured out what the bastard was playing at. The Imperial Admiral was aiming to wear him out.

Given Ripa's sword style, being pretty berserker – oriented, drew a considerable amount of his energy and stamina in a battle. He thus made up for the short windows of battle he had, by using his immense strength combined with the decent speed and agility imbued in his size, to overwhelm smaller opponents.

Here, things were quite different.

He was facing someone who was larger, superior in skill, and possessed a better understanding of stamina not to mention a greater reserve of it. The Imperial Admiral cut off every attempt by him to break out against a flank, and as Ripa felt more and more desperation dawn, he began to go for more gambles and act progressively more feral.

If such a thing was possible.

Checking a diving blow, Wattinree slashed at Ripa's left eye, eliciting a roar of rage. Moramee clashed his swords together, and sent a shockwave of plasma at his enemy, before grasping his skull in pain. There was naught but a cauterized hole thereafter, the sword having vaporized the organ, which left the former-Arbiter trembling in rage. He looked down, before he hurled his right sword with an up-hand flick, and lashed out with threes strikes on the left.

Wattinree deflected the flying implement while parrying the multiple strikes, and cut off the disgraced mess's sword-arm, followed quickly by his wide-eyed head. Quiet reigned in the chamber, as the titanic struggle had been watched with anticipation and awe. Now they broke, with cheer and revelry, chanting for their champion.

" **ARBITER! ARBITER! ARBITER"**

" **WATTINREE! WATTINREE! WATTINREE!"** Were cries heard from the High Council.

Regret smiled. He had a finely tuned ally now. If he could retrieve Moramee from the depths of that jail, and make him Arbiter without a peep from the others, then they couldn't say a thing when he supported Xytan's ascension based on his predecessors failure. The Hierarch grinned, as he oversaw the ceremony begin, the Elder Councillors walking to the platform and approaching the corpse of the dishonoured.

Removing the armour, was considered a ritual of cleanliness, carried out with prayers to the Forerunners by Regret and the Elders. Backing out as soon as he was finished, he allowed the nobility to begin the in-statement of the most powerful Sangheili Arbiter to date.

The _**9th Age of Reclamation**_ was off to a Roaring start.

 _~Scene Change~_

 **Terran Hegemony**

 **Terra**

 **Geneva, Court of the Star League**

 **1530 Hrs, 12th October 2525**

The Court of the Star League, was a massive complex, set into the side of a mountain, and attached to a large StarPort. The majestic building stretched nearly halfway up the rock formations side, constructed from metal, rock, and crystal. Holding several directories, it containing various committee's that worked in Terran and League policy, allowing dignitaries and ambassadors to meet and coordinate on the projects the mountain housed.

The building we begin to focus on, is one of the highest up, and contains the Star League Defence Force's Headquarters. This transparasteel-paneled penthouse, was made as a briefing room for the heads of the five most powerful Interstellar nations intelligence directorates. Chandrasekhar Kurita looked over the Capitol, thoughts running through his head, as he took in the landscape. His associates awaited the arrival of the last of their number. Which is why "Uncle Chandy" had decided to not be anywhere near any discussion, before all of them were present, ergo the window.

"Troubling, extremely troubling..." in walked Friedrich Steiner, the head of _**HEIMDALL**_ , a General in the **Lyran Commonwealth**. He looked at the other Great Power representatives, as he laid out several documents upon the table. Gazing at them evenly, he dropped his folder in front of his seat, before settling in and folding his arms comfortably. "I assume you have all seen the data?"

"It is very brutal and honest." The **Terran Hegemony** intelligence representative, Admiral Parangosky stated evenly, with little emotion in the old woman's voice.

"Yes, I have to say, it cuts to the heart of our weaknesses quickly." The Kuritan representative from the **Draconis Combine** , Chandrasekhar Kurita, as he walked over to the table and spoke serenely while looking over the pictures and reports from the first battles.

"Our weaknesses in space are apparent within the report. How we seal them, is more difficult in practice. Practical Energy-Shielding, of an unknown type? We are decades away from such a thing, with the principles we know..." _**ComStar's**_ Thomas Marik grumbled, representing the **Free Worlds League** , as he stared at the readouts from the AI's.

"All right I think the first thing we can do, is prepare an advisory Hyperpulse packet for all commanders... Those in the **SLDF** , and in the national armies, it appears there is going to be interesting times on the frontier... Information may allow an effective resistance, while strategy is being formulated." Parangosky mused, not happy with

"I suggest that we begin the final removal of occupation units from the **Capellan Confederation** at this time, to bolster the eastern frontier. The Archon has authorized me to offer our considerable production power, and replacement units from the _**LCAF**_ , in the time to come." Friedrich stated, pulling up a holographic projection of the Inner Sphere. Units moved from the green Capellan's territory, the frontier-space in the Draconis Combine and Federated Suns. Facilities pinged their quotient upwards, as the Commonwealth was moved to War Production, with trillions of _kroner_ moving into new coffers for the state to use in this new war.

Ironside was pleased with their brother realms seriousness when it came to assessing and committing against the potential scale of threat they faced, even compared to the FedSuns own, and what the others in the **League** would send. He nodded in thanks to Friedrich, before beginning his own address to the conclave of intelligence heads.

"The First Prince of the **Federated Suns**... Believes that we should reinforce the borders of both the Combine and Suns, but with in-depth concentrations, while we send a fleet on an expedition-under-arms to try and determine the reasons behind this alien attack." As he spoke, manipulating the Inner Sphere's frontier holoprojection, showing the units part of their naval and ground assets grouping in several areas reachable by JumpDrive. "Best done, with several Battlegroups able to support each other, within the 30 LY limit."

Chandrasekhar nodded, and began to nod his ascent, and the line passed from there. After several points of adjustment, the councillors turned to the Supreme Commander of Naval Forces of the **Star League**.

"You have your orders, Fleet Admiral Kerensky."

 **-The Good, The Bad, The Ugly theme - Ennio Morricone END**

 _~Scene Change~_

 **-Halo Theme Song Original START-**

 **Federated Suns**

 **Novo Franklin**

 **2200 Hrs, October 12th 2525**

Agent James Robinson, 003 of **MI6** , settled into his advanced BattleMech's cockpit. Being a 00 had it's perks, as he was already clad in _Excalibur Mk. II Battlearmour_ , the custom cockpit accommodating his bulk easily. This was done according to each persons size so it could give their Agents more protection, and better heat-management systems were available in the Battlearmour anyways, allowing the Agents to avoid clunky cooling vests and complex air-conditioning systems that could possibly fail in battle. Neural links were easy to hook to the armours ports, and initiate, with the powerful crystalline layer and AI aiding him as his armour locked down and anchored him into place.

He piloted an _Exterminator_ BattleMech, made purposefully as a sort of counter-Mech for enemy headhunting, which had earned him a lot of successful mission-kills. The _Exterminator_ was armed with 4 Medium Pulse Lasers, 2 Large Lasers, and 2 SRM-5's(Short Range Missile 5-Rack). It's advanced Void-Null Signature ECM made it silent on the battlefield, masking emissions, and other attempts at detection. The Chameleon-Panels gave it the ability to blend in to a back ground, making it set up for kill shots, wit the prey only realizing what was going on when it was too late.

James' Mech groaned, and began the reactor warm-up cycle. He brought the systems online one by one, idly paying attention to their status, as his DropPod prepared. James checked the deployment icons, the overlaying geographical grid, and looked for his position. Ah, deployed onto a set of highways, near the mountains. Apparently there was some suspicious activity going on there.

The **SLS Spirit of Fire** **shuddered** , releasing it's DropShips, before going on a vector into the local dock. The DropShips spread out over the planet to investigate any strange sightings, clear ruins, and begin reinforcing the planet's defences for an imminent invasion. Considering what they just came from, the orders were understood, and every MechWarrior in the remainder of the IIIrd was on edge triple-checking their systems en-route to destinations.

20 DropShips, of the Ovoid variant, were released. Each carried formations of the _**IIIrd's**_ MechWarrior contingent's, in 100 man team's. **Balor-Class DropShips** were able to handle around 100 AssaultMech's in their cargo hold, armed with a slew of weapons as well. 4NL25's, MNPPC(Medium Naval PPC), and 30 LBX-10 Autocannon's gave it plenty of fighting power. Against ground, and air assets.

 _"It's up to you, to confirm the authenticity of the Star League's claims on our planet, and see what we can use at this point in time. There could be clues as to why this "Covenant" has attacked us there."_ Duke Maurya's voice came online into his nanocomm, through a neural link, and fed into his consciousness.

His 'Pod would be exiting before the landing sequence could begin, due to orders to begin searching the area for ruins immediately. Reviewing the images, it appeared they were large enough, to an extent, for his BattleMech to get into. A vast yawning, metallic entrance with cobalt panelling greeted his eyes, white lines of power occasionally running throughout the floor and walls. The cavern was huge, able to fit two Atlas stacked on top of each other, from his measurements of the shadows generated by the people in the scene.

" _What people build such massive wonders?"_ The Duke's musings came across the comm, and cut into his thoughts.

The rumbling of the DropPod began now, as it was released into the programmed trajectory, aiming for the caverns by the highway in the northern continent. Soon, thrusters activated, and began to slow his descent, with a 'chute popping out as the top of the shell burst open. His 'Mech landed with a bass _thud_ , imprinting ground with the weight of it's massive frame, and getting it sunk in by at least five feet. Putting pressure on his pedals, the Agent pushed his Mech methodically from the softer ground, to stronger pavement and road. Sod never was much good for landing upon.

Surveying the area, as he jogged the AssaultMech forward, he began to follow the path of the highway. It led into a trail, that went up into the mountains towards the cave, where the ruins were. A turn-off, or would make itself evident soon. Suddenly-

 **Zzzrrt-zzzrrrt-zzzrrrt**

Irritant globes of blue plasma splashed against his 'Mech's chest-plate. The Ferro-Fibrous armour on his Mech was able to absorb the heat from the smaller shots of plasma, as it was nothing compared to their larger brethren. James triggered firing studs on his controller and with a thunderous roar, fired volleys of missiles into the source of the small-weapons fire. A crying wail emanated from the group, as several Covenant bodies began to fly through the air, the explosions destroying their formation.

" _What kind of bloody idiots attacks BattleMech's with infantry? Guess that is what I can expect from the Covenant..."_ Despite this only being the second siting of the aliens, they were falling into typical patterns, and that was to viciously lash out at anything human in front of them. Managing the gyro, Agent Robinson charged his Mech uphill, and stomped on the remainder of them. Swivelling around, he saw three Wraith Heavy Hovercraft Tanks slowly emerging from mountainside trees.

Activating the Void-Null Signature, he aligned the Chameleon-Panels to look like the trees behind him, and began melting into the background. Walking around, he used the natural background noise of the tanks, to mask his own movements. The three eventually backed up, into a firm triangle, facing outward at three points. With a smile, the Agent began to engage.

Large Lasers plowed into the rear of two Wraiths, as he charged forth from the trees, surprising the last Wraith tank. Able to target weak points from the front of another vehicle, he had exploited that, and now sought to use his Pulse Lasers and SRM's to wreck the last tank. With surprisingly quick reflexes, the commander of that tank fired it's cannon, sending a large shell of plasma into the shoulder of the _Exterminator_ at close range.

The MechWarrior's cockpit rocked with the impact, and the computer warned of a high-heat increase due to the plasma. The Ferro-Fibrous shoulder pauldron held under enormous strain, shedding the energy and wash of the electromagnetically-driven plasma. The Gyroscope spun him left, and his guns fired off to the side, not taking the Wraith tank out of commission. The Wraith, decided to turn and jet further away, so it could bombard him with more of the same. His Void-Null Sig deactivated from the shock to the system, as electricity crackled over the 'Mech, disrupting the systems with it's discharge.

Agent Robinson strafed his 'Mech around to the left, bringing the Gyro back in balance, and his weapons on target. Two Large Lasers blinked, emerald death beams carving into the hover-tank, and the Wraith was reduced to a smoking ruin. James added a salvo of Pulse-Laser bolts, and SRM's to make sure.

OO's double-tap. Standard procedure in the field.

Now, he began marching up the incline to the cave's, his job done. Of course, since Duke Maurya had seen live what he was doing, he need not report the Covenant were on-planet. He imagined that orders were being fired to the other ships commanders to reinforce and prepare the planet moreso than ever now, against invasion. His Mech climbed, following a winding path, before coming into an inlet.

A pathway disappeared into the mountain. Obviously, this was the place to get off, for OO's. Beginning the trek down the road, following it into the mountainous area, and was surprised when it widened and revealed a rather large Covenant presence. Several buildings, and such were present, with their tanks and soldiers milling about.

Well, he was set to ruin everyone's day.

Activating his Void-Null Signature System again, and ensuring it worked as he adjusted the Chameleon-Panels, James began looking for a prime place to begin his work.

A group of natural rocky outcroppings caught his attention. Crouching within it, he began sending errant Large Laser blasts down-range at the buildings, aimed at bringing down their shields. The aliens could see the general area the bolts came from, but they were too far away to pinpoint(The initial flash of his lasers helping this), and no weapons came up with locks. Before anything large could be armed, or sent out, he had decimated much of their infrastructure, and now began to move.

Leaping from cover with a Mech, is not as impressive as it sounds, as AssaultMech's are by no means speedy, but seeing the 100 tonne 3-story wall of steel lurch out from behind rocks firing all of it's weapons was definitely an intimidating sight to behold. Agent Robinson began firing SRM-5's in volleys, cycling between them, his Large Lasers, and Pulse-Laser bolts to take down the grunts. He found himself using the Pulse-Laser quite frequently, putting down attacker after attacker armed with grenades and small-arms plasma.

Now that he had destroyed the Covenant's hidden base on **Novo Franklin** , he could move inwards, and figure out just what all the fuss was about. His orders were to take whatever was so interesting, to both the **Star League** and **Covenant** , and return it to the **Federated Suns**. Marshall Ironside had been very clear to him, and he knew his duty, but there were doubts plaguing him.

As he marched his BattleMech into the cavern, his thoughts wondered. In normal times, he wouldn't hesitate to turn over whatever it is to **MI6** , but humanities survival was at risk here. This new foe... They were attempting to kill everything in their path, and after what Robinson saw on Harvest, he certainly couldn't compromise with them if that was the aim. Killing whoever tries to destroy you seemed like a good attitude to have, and his mentor was one of those kinds of people, who were all vociferous proponents of smiting those that had poor outlook and attitudes towards the FedSuns citizenry.

It had served him well in the Age of War, and he was an elder of the **AFFS** , having been one of the few generals to make it to old age without losing his mind. As well, unlike Parangosky, his mentor wasn't a self-serving cunt. Ironside was a fanatic, yes, but he was also a complete patriot of the Federated Suns. James didn't know if his mentor was right this time, but he would let the mission give him a chance to... Wait-and-see as it were.

Coming to a point, where the cavern now appeared to blend into dark metallic walls, James began to observe the architecture. Various passageways, winding through the mountain, until he came to a large door. His AID reported that it was scanning, and attempting to access the doors controls, with only a second being needed.

With a giant's shrug, and a hissing-sound, the door began to retract it's sections in four directions.

" _Hm. Strange design. Though it's big enough for 'Mech's, so who am I to complain?"_ Thought the Agent, striding the AssaultMech into the room, looking around, now seeing the scale of what the **Star League** was describing. The cavern may not go up far, but it appeared to descend down, into the depths, with stairs carved into the mountainous structure and plated with the unknown material. An inverted ziggurat appeared to be the pathway down. However, he would have to be immensely careful here, and it would possibly lead to him falling and tumbling down a long way.

Marching his _Exterminator_ forward, he spotted something on the first bridge. Two Quadruped's were waiting for him, and moving anxiously back and forth. Several infantry-emplacements were present, behind shielded screens, but these were wholly insignificant before a Mech's firepower. Ensuring to keep his speed and movements erratic, he changed his directions frequently, utilizing the wide-path available to him while approaching the bridge.

The bridge, it was now apparent, was made of some sort of energy compressed to give it a physical friction coefficient. As he drew closer, the four-legged tanks opened up with their Plasma-beams, trying to strip armour off of his massive 'Mech's form. The Agent charged through the energy, opening up with his Large Lasers, blasting the two Medium Tanks to shreds. Pulse-Laser's continued through with the assault, taking out the shields, and Robinson ran over the rest of the infantry in front of him, before making his way down to the next level.

" _How many levels are there, before I get to this thing? Don't want to get bored and accidentally slip off..."_ Thought the Agent bemusedly, before querying the AID, asking for a proper readout of the cavern. Several seconds went by, before the AID replied.

" **I am unable to get a good reading. Their is something jamming my scanning. It is covering the entire facility. Essentially, it aids in making this area appear gray to less-advanced species. No rare-minerals, no oil, no reason to investigate, unless you know it exists. This is a well-hidden place."** Stated his AID, an AI who had taken the persona of OO Agent himself, and taken the oath as well. He preferred to impersonate OO7, and strangely refused the name commonly associated with it...

Robinson beheld a crosswalk, as he made it to the parapet at the bottom of the ramp, it led into the side of cliff-face on the opposite side, where did it come out... There! He spotted the continuation of the ziggurat over in the right corner, beyond a probable door. So, indoor again. His AID activated the bridge controls that were dead in water currently, and one flared into existence for him to cross.

" _It's a little thin."_ He mused and sent through his neural link.

" _Can I cross and get in that door, without this thing shutting off?"_ Robinson asked the AID, and OO7 merely replied that he needed a second, so Robinson shook his head and waited.

" **There! Now I can open the door, and hold it, while using the bridge. Get going, this system is not being cooperative. I think there's active counter-intrusion in this system, and activates upon reflex, when it detects any invasive presence."** Agent Robinson responded by getting his 'Mech to run across the bridge, and into the open doors, clearing the 60 foot gap in short order. He really didn't like the idea of falling inside his 'Mech, only to explode at the bottom of a long and hard fall. Skidding into a chamber, he looked around, taking stock of his surroundings.

Dozens of Covenant stared at him.

The AssaultMech stared back.

One plucky Unngoy in a turret opened fire, and got atomized by a Large Laser. This was all it took for the whole room to begin to attempt a shot at bringing down one of the humans Greater Daemons(as their nickname had grown in fame since Harvest rapidly).

Agent Robinson grimaced, as he brought his Pulse-Laser's to bear, and stitched them across a platoon of Covenant wielding shields. He can't use his Missile's, they could strike the roof and unleash explosions in his face(or tonnes of rock and dirt on top of him and he certainly didn't want that), and his melee options were limited. The room had a five-story gallery running the length of it's tunnel to the ziggurat path, obviously there were artifacts or something retrievable on those floors, for the Covenant to infest them.

Duke Maurya tagged them, and marked it as important for the follow-up force, as James was to receive several companies of Powered Infanteers and a few lances of Mech's. Not needing them, except maybe in this instance, Agent Robinson continued to eliminate the Covenant's emplacements. Volleys of plasma small-arms fire sprayed against his outer armour, not doing much other than heating the outer shell a bit. With his speed of elimination, he was putting them away faster than they could damage him. It would take something a lot more powerful than these puny guns to take his 'Mech on.

 **-Halo Theme Song Original END-**

 **-Halo OST #23 – Suite Autumn START-**

With that said and done, he surveyed his work, and continued on moving through the opening gate. The ziggurat turned down and steep into chasm. Tales of ancient dungeons came to mind, as Robinson thought of ancient Halls, buried deep in the mountains and filled with eternal glory. These thoughts burned and smouldered in the landscape of his thought, as he focused on the mission, his childhood fascination with mythology coming to the fore.

Further into the deep, five more rounds of the ziggurat he made, without much action. Whoever constructed this ruin... They certainly had a purpose he mused as he observed the structure, because it was very defensible, and made for large amounts of offensive firepower to easily be bottlenecked in many spots. James pointed this out to Maurya as he went along, and the Duke made notes as to a possible behaviour-pattern of these deceased aliens. At last, he came to a massive gate. With one final set of commands given through the AID, the door opened. Inside was a hallway, with massive monolithic statues on either side.

And the glyphs! Oh the glyphs, the amount of Hieroglyphics in the room was astounding, taking even the Agent by surprise. Behind each statue, was a giant slab of metal, with what he was thinking possibly had a finely inscribed story on each in an of-course unreadable alien language. Each statue had armour covering it, making the features of this alien race impossible to discern, but they seemed humanoid and bipedal.

100 feet from the entrance, a raised dais, with several rings stood. There was a circular podium at it's center. Robinson decided he needed to get there immediately.

Parking the 'Mech, he set it so his AID could fire his weapons at least, before leaping down. The door closed behind him, as his AID discreetly began ensuring no interruptions would come their way. He then approached the podium, and reached out with a hand to touch it, his armoured fingertips caressing the steel. With a sudden, shuddering hum, it sprang into action.

Planets began to be displayed, and shown at a rapid rate, furiously across the galaxy, until a selection of systems was shown. Then a symbol was shown. The Agent replayed the recording several times but that was all he could get. The readout provided coordinates in an alien tongue, maybe the **SLDF** Captain knew a way to read it, since they had got them to **Novo Franklin** on deciphered coordinates... His AID began using the Mech's camera's to photograph everything, the entire tablet's of the 87 Aliens, and their recorded deeds(because if this wasn't a hall of heroes, Agent James Robinson would eat a bowler hat).

With that said, he began making his way out of the chamber, and strode out and into the pathway. He had no reason to look backwards.

 _~Scene Change~_

Xytan Jar Wattinree disengaged his cloaking device, after the human had already left. He looked down at the podium, which had displayed the Holy Forerunner language, and all for a barbaric and unclean human. Never had the objects of the Gods worked that well for the Covenant.

Something smelled like rotten Shar'quoi feces here. Besides doing his job, he would discover what was happening.

Of course, he had his own recording device with him. Against regulations, he had obtained a way to put a starships program into mobile repository. Immensely useful, it could access areas he couldn't previously while possessing his memories and intelligence, as well was able to record their surroundings so he could blackmail others and further his cause.

For there was only one reason Wattinree had gotten involved in the politics of the Empire once more.

Xytan was a Sangheili nationalist. He believed in Sangheili culture, it's prowess, strength, and honour. Seeing that Regret had gained a seat upon the Hierarch's Trio, was like having a wish granted, giving him a golden chance to manipulate the firebrand with his claws. Regret adored the Sangheili, and thought that they were the perfect guards for entrusting Military Power to, while the San'Shyuum hoarded the Religious Power of the Covenant's leading light.

With the failure at Harvest, Wattinree could push Regret into making a few questionable decisions, and using the Holy Forerunner's knowledge for more... Practical means.

Striding around the chamber, he viewed the heroes this place championed, taking care to read each tablet's story and lesson.

" _Ur-Didact... Iso-Didact... Master-Builder... Librarian..."_ His brilliant cobalt-azure armoured head gazed upon the majesty of the greatest that had been produced in Forerunner society. It only gave these people titles, much like Gods had associations. Didact, technically in the language of the Holy Covenant, meant God of War. The translation for what said Master-Builder, meant God of Weapons and Forging, and the translation for Librarian... He squinted. It meant Goddess of Knowledge and Life.

The human would be in for a surprise when he got to the surface. His forces had arrived in system, and were laying siege already, _**The Fleet of Particular Justice**_ ready to crush their opposition. He knew they had to keep their ship intact in order to chase down the Forerunner artifact as well, so he was already pushing them to leave. However, even before he had touched down, a small fleet of WarShips had jumped in system to oppose his Fleet.

Xytan grinned. He was looking forward to a challenge.

 **-Halo OST#26 – Suite Autumn END-**

 **-Tombstone (1993) – Theme Song HD START-**

 _~Scene Change~_

Agent James Robinson burst forth from the caverns, finally making it out of the mountains. The whole while, climbing the ramps back out, he had been nervous and felt eyes staring into the back of his head the whole way out. Several times, he had spun his torso, only to find nothing.

Eerie.

Stressed slightly, he came out of the path at a significant pace, doing about 80 km/hr. James padded down the mountainous terrain, and didn't stop for anything, until he saw the sun. Looking around, he saw he was back at the entrance-way, before the path disappeared into a crack between the mountains plates. He had busted his ass, getting back to the top...

Shaking off the apprehension, he turned his 'Mech towards the sloping terrain. The highway lay ahead, and it just so happened that 'twas on fire. He could see his DropShip in the distance, and it was firing weapons on a near-constant basis, getting beads on anything within reach. Eyebrows jumping and shock registering, he began to push his 'Mech back into a fast paced jog, trying to obtain a good gait. As he made his way into the multiple lane interstate, there were now groups of armour, backed by companies of Covenant troops. Wraiths, and Locusts fired their weapons at him, as he attempted to strafe and cut their numbers down to measure.

Firing on the Locusts usually was a safe-bet, but if you weren't careful, the Plasma-cannon of the Wraith could square a shot up with a joint for sure. Weaving through the falling plasma, Robinson fired his Lasers upon the armoured vehicles, spreading missiles into the crowds of Unngoy and Kig'Yar. Locusts were going down fast, but not quick enough, as they started to score hits and beginning to wear down armour on his chest and the left arm. A wraith landed one on his right thigh, and he began to seriously get annoyed.

Firing two Large Lasers at one Wraith, then Pulse Lasers at another, while targeting a few with SRM's, Robinson Alpha Struck the bastards. On a continuous cycle, he lashed out at the Wraith and Locust armour, until they were all down. His heat-management was now screaming at him, but the reactor was still working, and the plasma of the infantry was nearly ineffective against his armour. For now, he let everything cool down, as he walked forward.

The armour was now considerable worn, having been stripped off of the Endoskeleton almost, the Ferro-Fibrous plates holding up barely, but James couldn't risk the Myomer being exposed. Thus, he swiftly began running over the infantry, not able to utilize his weapons with the bleed-off of heat too large right now.

His feet and fists provided enough ballistic surfaces however, to met out pain and punishment, as he stomped Covenant into pulp into and guts. While his fists slammed down into the ground, crushing the Unngoy and Kig'Yar facing him, he strode through the lines with ease. His 'Mech's size gave him an ease of commanding the local battlefield, so, he used that to make best speed towards the nearest DropShip.

Running through the various strong-points, and following the highway, James charged into the city. Plasma fire started to come from buildings, larger bolts energy seeking him out as he headed towards his way-point, trying to take him out. The Chameleon-Panels were worn off of the armour by this time, but his Void-Null Signature was working well... It aided him as he used the buildings for cover, alarms giving warning that he wasn't in good shape for rumbling with anything significant.

The Agent chose his buildings well, as he crept through the town, making his approach to the StarPort. Turning around a corner, he beheld a final stretch.

There, at the StarPort's entrance, were 7 Wraith Tanks. Waiting for him? He looked to his rear. There were groups of Locusts, and Wraith there as well. How did they?...

The tanks opened up, throwing bolts of plasma into the gap between the buildings, with the Locust plasma-beams hemming him in. Agent Robinson checked his heat, as he dodged balls of blue-white death, armour warnings screaming at him.

He began to fire, as his Mech took hit after hit, trying to make the way into the StarPort. Blasting three Locusts, he kicked a Wraith over as he sprinted through the blockade, struggling to break the will of these fanatics and get the vital information to his DropShip. As he blew up the opposition, plasma hit him in the left shoulder.

 **ZzzrrtBLAM**

With a wrench and a screech, his _Exterminator's_ left arm flew off, several Locust plasma-beams having cleaved it off. After taking several Wraith Mortar shots, the armour was worn off, leaving it's Endoskeleton exposed. In that moment, the Covenant gunners in control of the armoured detachment, fired at the weaknesses displayed. An arm full of Myomer, Endoskeleton, parts of Ferro-Fibrous plates, and weapons-systems landed on the ground.

Agent Robinson glanced towards the limb, as his gyro rocked with impact, but he was already sprinting down the path to the ship. With his 'Mech being in the condition it was, he couldn't take any time to sanitize his presence, so he just focused on making it to the hangar of his ship. The safety of a DropShip, it's refit hangers, and a shower was all James wanted right now.

Plasma chased him him down the lane-way, as he put his 'Mech's power into speed. The enemy armour focused on bringing him down, and filled the kill-box as it came after his retreating backside, with his Mech straining to make the distance. James grimaced, as he took a lot of hits across the back, jinking back and forth to dodge the mortar rounds. The Mech swayed dangerously, as the joint stressed, being hit multiple times and cut open by plasma.

Finally, he was in, and attempting to decelerate. As he skidded into the bay, he was sprayed by mass fire-extinguishers, putting out the fires on the surface of his 'Mech's armour. Sighing, he stumbled it over to its slot, and began to power down.

Clambering out of his damaged Assault-Class Mech, James began to climb down, and ready his thoughts for the debriefing report.

Making his way through the ship, he came to the bridge, and popped up the Duke's image with his AID wrist-device. The Duke looked like he was absorbed in paper work, before he began paying attention to the Holoprojector.

" _Yes Agent Robinson, what do you need?"_ He asked, as he went back to dealing with the immense amount of papers on his desk.

"We need to recall our forces immediately. Whatever these Covenant aliens are searching for, I caught a glimpse. I have a significant amount of data that is ready to be deciphered, and I need to take off now." Agent Robinson said, as the Duke took in his words.

" _Alright, but are you sure?"_ The Duke gazed at him, sharp eyes meeting his polarized visor.

I wouldn't have called direct, if I didn't want you to give the order, which is why I'm on the bridge next to the Captain of the DropShip. Just waiting for you to get Cutter next." Maurya nodded, as he picked up the his AID display, and began walking. Quickly getting to Cutter's office, he fired a few images to the Captain of the **Spirit** , before getting him to stand in the projector's range.

They took the time to address the DropShip's skipper, who the Agent had apprised on his way in, and he got the takeoff sequence underway. The other DropShips began to power up to, and it was a good thing the Mech's by now were buttoned up, and locked into place in all ships. The ships took off on plumes of nuclear fire, and set on course to the hangar of the **SLS Spirit of Fire**.

With the JumpDrive Core not being fully charged, and a Covenant Fleet having arrived in-system, the **_Spirit_** had no choice but to engage it's Slipspace Drive-Core to get to the next destination. **Spirit of Fire** began the long journey to the next system in the chain of clues left behind by an ancient alien race.

 **-Tombstone (1993) – Theme HD END-**

 **BattleTech Wars:**

 **Part 1:**

 **Fallout**

 _~End~_


	6. Chapter 6

**Mantle Across A Starry League**

 **Disclaimer** : I own no franchise or original content that appears within. They belong to their creator's, and owners.

 **Summary** : Megaverse. A grand vision, on how Mass Effect, and others will be affected by a humanity forged from the influences of 1980's-2000's Sci-Fi and such. Prepare for BattleMech's, Powered Armour's, Fusion, Energy Weapons, Psychics, Magics, and more. How will the Citadel deal with a humanity that has seen and has Cyborgs, Super-Soldiers, BattleMech's, WarShips, with more to come? BattleTech Wars:Part 1: Harvest II

 **Chapter 6-BattleTech Wars:Part 1: Harvest II**

" _Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat"-Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt_

 **Federated Suns,**

 **Planet Harvest**

 **1530 Hrs, October 27th, 2525**

 **-A Fistful of Dollars Theme(Ennio Morricone) START-**

Emerging from Slipspace, with a blue flash of Cherenkov Radiation, the _**SLS Spirit of Fire**_ cruised into the system. A fair distance from the star, the Captain had chosen to approach at extreme vector's, away from any prying eyes that could still be left over, trying to camp in the system from Harvest.

The alien artifact's dictated they had to return to Harvest, and enter the escarpment's ruins. Even though BattleMech's were effective there, they would be squeezed, so it was necessary to see if Powered Armour units could be pulled together.

During the time the OO Agent was securing his objectives deep in the caves of Novo Franklin, Captain Cutter and Duke Maurya were working their hardest to put the IIIrd back together, and give the ship a bit more teeth. It's aerospace assets were top-notch, but it's ground contingent was not, due to the Super-Carrier design.

10,000 locals had volunteered, a mix of militia, regulars and civilians. Outfitted with _Nighthawk_ armours, they were given a capability boost, a good assault weapon and shown who was the enemy. As they travelled to Harvest, the new replacements drilled endlessly during the time available. How to use the suit, aiming and using their weapons, movements and strategy.

Not quite on the level of a professional standing unit, but they would do for now, the Duke thought as he read a few reports on them. Signing a few papers, he looked up as Agent Robinson quietly shut the door, and strode into the room.

"James." He more or less grunted. James kept a neutral expression on his face, as he stood before his superior.

"Good morning sir." The Duke looked up, as he creased his brow in thought.

"No... It certainly isn't. Is it James?" He stated, as he began to shuffle through various folders, pulling out photographs and readouts.

"It was subjective sir." The Duke snapped up in surprise, looking close to affronted.

"Subjective to _what_?" He asked thinly, eyeing his Agent.

"Your point of view of course sir. I said Good Morning because I feel good this morning, and you said it wasn't, which means you are probably not having a good morning." The Duke sighed, and nodded, gesturing for his favourite subordinate to seat himself.

"Your probably right, and it's best left alone. I don't want to get into a philosophy discussion before Afternoon Tea." Stewards came in, and rolled out some food, and tea for them to enjoy, taking the words out of the man's mouth. James quirked an eyebrow, with a small smile dancing on his face, as he looked at the Duke. Maurya narrowed his eyes, before closing them, and pinching his nose in exasperation. Winning an argument against Robinson was very difficult, but he enjoyed the repertoire because it kept him on his toes, able to formulate new strategies and ways around his thoughts.

'Twas an exercise in the processing of sufficient mental instinct and forethought at any given time. He also was grateful that Knight-Agents like Robinson were so intelligent, and ego-less. He shuddered to think if **MI6** was as bad as the **Maskirovka**... They would be constantly watching their shadows, and it would be much like watching your back as the _**Okhrana**_ or _**NKVD**_ trailed your loyal back, in the lands of **Tsarist Russia** and **USSR** of old.

The **Federated Suns** was not like that, not at all. Noble's, civilian's, and military personnel had a fair degree of freedom.

As the Tea, and food began to be consumed, the Duke activated a Holoprojector.

"As you know, we are going back to Harvest. Deciphering the information you recovered, was difficult, and we only were able to read the stellar coordinates contained within the main message. Reading the rest of their language will take time, as we decipher the tablets and the relevance they have to Forerunner society." The blue glow resolved into several strings of coordinates, looking like Mayan glyphs, in the form of constellations.

It was at this point James raised his hand.

"Why send us to **Novo Franklin** and back? Why not have the coordinates at **Harvest**?" His question hung in the air, as the Duke paused, turning to him. Silence reigned for a few seconds.

"I haven't a clue. Maybe it's no good to hide the map, at the first location, and only now having the coordinates do we realize what it's part of... T'were we not worthy of this, there is a strong possibility we would have been xenophobic and destroyed any evidence of them at **Harvest**. Thus ending our journey early, eliminating links in the trail." James had confusion upon his face, and now Maurya was smiling.

"Here, I'll show you what I mean." The projector brought up a strong of coordinates. However, after the first one, they were all missing digits. James snorted, and he sat back.

"That's bloody rude." He bit out scathingly, thinking about all the planets they would have to manually travel to, and the presence each would have on it. If there were equivalent enemy on each, then this could be as bad as island-hopping in WWII was for the **USA**.

"Quite. Every coordinate _after_ Harvests, is missing a second digit. So, say is Harvest is in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way... Whatever comes after, is buried in that planets escarpment complex, probably in a different chamber from the one the **Star League** already accessed. It gives us the answer that fits into this." Maurya pointed to a group of foreign symbols, which resolved into 3_.6_.2_.7_. He noticed the larger space between these glyphs and understood the gap was purposefully formed.

"Can we expect any reinforcements?" Maurya pressed a few keys on his AID's wrist-device. He pulled up the Inner Sphere's Eastern Frontier-space, and motioned various units moving into place.

"Elements of the _**SLDF**_ , and _**FSN**_ are moving into place to reinforce as many systems as possible. The plan was for the relief force at **Novo Franklin** to accompany us wherever we were going. That Covenant Fleet came from nowhere, and now Fleet Admiral Kerensky is going to be held up back there." The Duke displayed the forces brought by both Humanity and the Covenant into the system. 15 stood against 27 Covenant ships.

"Those odds don't look promising." James stated. Maurya nodded.

"Faith, my friend. Faith will get us through this hour." Maurya stated, before pulling Harvest back up.

"It is a good thing the Admiral is there, because it drew off the monstrosity and it's friends. Now that the Harvest system is empty, we can go back and pick through it in peace and quiet." The Duke blinked the projection, and now it showed Harvest, slowly zooming into the escarpment's geography.

Known areas began to make themselves visible, and soon a descending series of labyrinth-like passageways were present in the Holotank's projection. Only penetrating to a depth of around 500 or so feet, the scans dropped off around there.

"Here's what we know. From the size of the bunkers tip, our scientists and AI are suggesting that the installation is at least 25 km deep. With the amount of integration it has with the mountain chain, it looks to be an elongated diamond, implanted into it's bedrock. The entire formation is natural, which in itself begs to question, how much of Harvest has been manipulated by the Forerunners?" The Duke pointed out, James following completely.

If Harvest was manipulated, other human planets could have been which meant there were secrets out there worth having, ready to be opened they would just need to find them.

"If we get to the bottom of this whole thing, we may find out sir." James said, bringing the Duke out of his thoughts. He looked confused for a second, then shook his head, before retrieving a folder.

"Don't assume it's going to be that easy. Here's your assignment for the duration." James took hold of the folder, and began to read it's contents, before looking up with annoyance written on his face.

"I'm better in a Mech." The Duke raised an eyebrow, before snorting and closing his eyes, rocking back into his chair. Steepling his fingers, the Duke of the Periphery March of the Federated Suns opened his eyes, and locked gazes with his OO3 while exuding a commanding presence.

"OO3, you are to do nothing more than your duty, is that understood. Past interactions with other _'Agents'_ aside, you are to remain professional, and deport yourself as necessary when assigned to this squadron. You are representing the _**Armed Forces of the Federated Suns**_ , whenever you are within site of a foreign soldier. Clear?" The Duke stated, steel behind every word. Robinson had long snapped to, training kicking in, and was facing forward emotionlessly.

"Crystal, sah!"

"Dismissed!" With that, OO3 stood, saluted, about-faced and exited the room with the folder. The Duke looked down, as he opened his own folder, displaying photos. Power-armoured soldiers greeted his vision, clad in Olive-drab armour, with gold polarized visors.

An Ω symbol was present on the right shoulder pauldron of the team.

 **-A Fistful of Dollars Theme(Ennio Morricone) END-**

 **-Conan The Barbarian – 08 – Atlantean Sword START-**

 _~Scene Change~_

 _~DropShip Leonidas~_

Robinson armoured up at the FS QM, and grabbed weapons before heading to his assignment, the _**SLS Leonidas**_. Belonging strictly to the people he was about to jump into exploring ruins with, it was for use by their _**Branch**_ only. His dull coyote coloured armour, and Sun'n'Sword marking of the Federated Suns stood out completely from the olive-drab opposites, and Greek alphabet markings.

Eventually, he reached a bay that had an Ω over it. Realizing this must be who he was looking for, James rapped on the bays divider, seeing if anyone was paying attention. 5 heads gazed in his direction, all armoured. Each one was working on something related to their weapons or armour, as one stood up, walking over to him.

"Papers." The voice was quiet, and gruff, a hand extended immediately.

Spartans.

Terra's finest warriors.

"I have none for you." OO3 said, holding his folder tucked tightly underneath his shoulder, along with his weapon carried in his left. The Spartan stared pointedly at it.

"What I'm carrying, is mine, including my folder. In fact it's my assignment, to make sure none of you damage anything in this journey through **Federated** **Suns** territory." OO3 took a step forward, standing in the Spartan leader's personal space. To his credit, and his comrades, not one of them flinched or made a move.

"I hope you understand that we are here to see the retrieval of the ruins technology for the betterment of humanity." Said the team leader, like it was the party line.

"Don't give me that. Even in the **Star League** , everyone is in it for themselves. I've already outed one agent of Parangosky's. Given her feeling towards other nations, and her personal power in the **Hegemony** , how many more of her directives are likely to make it through into other commands?" The Agent stated, as he strode briskly into their workshop and armoury, taking full stock of his surroundings. The others stared, and processed what he said, their own dislike for **ONI** coming to the fore of their brains and distracting them from the **FNG**.

It was just then, that Captain Cutter strode in, with a few others. Dr. Anders, Sgt. Major Forge, and Duke Maurya all were there for a proper mission-brief. Cutter coughed to get everyone's attention.

"Now that you've all had time to get to know each other, I'm going to show you your objective. " Cutter projected the labyrinth's chambers, displaying the known sectors.

"Using teams from the _Leonidas_ , we will explore sections simultaneously, giving maximum coverage and reducing the risk of ambush. That's in case there's Covenant buried in these mountains, just like there were at Novo Franklin..." Cutter trailed off, showing the sectors the squads would be traversing. A central area lit up, and the omega symbol popped over top of it.

"This area, belongs to your team, consisting of _**MI6**_ Agent Robinson, and _**Spartan Branch**_ Team Ω. Take what you need for deep cave-mapping, and data retrieval. As per our agreement with the FedSuns, there will be NO demolitions involved. No **HAVOKS** Spartans." Cutter stated, and one of the Spartans actually groaned.

Havok tactical fusion weapons were very useful demolition devices, often used by Spartan detachments against Mad Max in the Crescendo, and could be utilized from a small package. With the higher-ups banning demolitions devices, they could get trapped in a bottleneck if they were ambushed, and superior numbers brought down upon them.

"Your Super-Soldiers. I'm sure you will be fine." Duke Maurya cut in serenely, having been amused by the Spartans ruffled feathers. It's not often that the Duke got to see a stoic and calm professional, corralled out of the position they were used to, and placed in an odd clash with his Agent. Anyway, fun time was over.

"One more additional... Portion has been attached to your mission." Cutter said, and he glanced sideways at his other subordinates.

Dr. Anders and Sgt. Major Forge came forth.

"Once they get into some armour, these two will be accompanying you into the Forerunner ruin. Dr. Anders here is particularly skilled in gaining access to computers of their origin, so it may speed your mission up." Maurya stepped up.

"As well, since they are not as enhanced as you fellows are, they are to be protected, even the good Sergeant Major. Battlearmour can only do so much, and if the Covenant are there, it will prove troubling to get there and back without too much trouble. Take haste, safety, and honour with you, and go!" The Duke bade them goodbye, saluting and then striding off as they stood at attention, Captain Cutter going with him.

 **-Conan The Barbarian – 08 – Atlantean Sword END-**

 **-Conan The Barbarian – 23 – Battle of the Mounds/Resourceful Warrior START-**

 _~Scene Change~_

 _~Above Novo Franklin~_

Arbiter Wattinree sat upon the throne of _CAS-Class Assault Carrier_ , _**Fury of the Prophet's**_ , watching the human fleet make it's way in system. Inferior numbers to his, and definitely inferior size, he still regarded them with interest due to their surprising energy-weapons. At 5km, it was of the finest ships the Covenant could offer.

Wattinree sneered at this actuality. During his service to the Prophet's, he had proven to be an almighty force, so unstoppable he was banished. Now, overturned so he could become the Arbiter, he intended to fix the problems in the Covenant. Being a student of war, as all Sangheili should be, he had begun to absorb and study everything related to warfare at an early age.

Taken into the vast myriad shades of warfare, he had dissected many other forms of knowledge as necessary to warfare, easily devouring them. During his entire career, he had been indispensable for the Prophet's, and he tried to set an example of how accomplishing impossible tasks and giving unquestionable loyalty would endear the Prophet's to the Sangheili.

And then he was banished.

So, during his banishment, he challenged himself. Sharpening his forms of martial skill, acquiring texts of rare knowledge, and challenging the great strategy masters of Sangheili space to come and play rare strategy games with them( to _"ensure the next generation had things well in hand"_ ). Becoming even deadlier, he had honed himself into a visionary, and seen what was necessary for Sangheili power to rise. He would keep those thoughts at bay, for now, and focus on the enemy in front of him.

"Arbiter, we are receiving a transmission. Shall we accept?" Queried his comms officer. Thinking for a moment, the Arbiter flicked a claw in the direction of the screen, waiting for it to display his adversary. The Encryption suite began to run, and soon, was completely secure against foreign intrusion. Their side would only display darkened shades of black and blue, with general size and blurry forms.

A bridge resolved itself on the screen. Humans were present, clad in olive-drab armoured uniforms, with their heads visible. Their leader was in the centre of the screen. Not a hair upon his polished bald dome, but he did sport a finely groomed beard, and had a harsh and square countenance. His eyes stared stonily at Xytan, and the Imperial Admiral could feel the anticipation of the great battle, that was to come. The human was wearing a light armour, that was brilliantly white, with gold lines.

"This is Fleet Admiral Kerensky, of the **Star League** of Humanity. We ask that you stand down, and stop trying to destroy the **Federated Suns** colony of **Novo Franklin**. We wish to negotiate a ceasefire."

Wattinree shook his head, and stood, showing that he was near 11' tall, even among the other beings upon the bridge.

" **Human..."**

" **You cannot stop what is to come..."**

" **Prepare to die!"**

The Arbiter cut off the transmission then, hoping the message would have maximum impact, for both the enemy and his forces morale. Making them feel like they could simply execute their foes, would help boost confidence, ergo boosting their abilities in battle. Confidence was a key aspect of war. It was one of the things that he wanted to school his army in.

Beginning to send out the picket of Destroyers, he ordered his Battlecruisers into groups of two, to support the line of lesser-equipped ships. The Plasma-Beams on the ventral surface of the Battlecruisers, would give them a significant firing capability there.

His Assault Carriers would split and back up four sector's, using their Particle-Beams to put out fire's with trouble-makers. This sniping ability of the larger ships, and their 1,000's of fighters, would allow them to hopefully slaughter the humans.

 _~Scene Change~_

 _~FSN Galahad~_

 **Task Force Carrier, _FSN_ _Galahad_**

 **Harvest Task Force**

 **1530 Hrs, 27th October, 2525**

Fleet Admiral Aleksandr Kerensky barked out orders for his ships to move into formation, and fighters to begin patterns of sweeps. Swiftly followed by various orders for certain timed volleys of weaponry, they were quickly sent to the entire fleet, everyone getting quickly into weapons distance.

He had 15 ships, to the Covenant's 27.

 **1\. 6 300m** _ **Austerlitz-Class**_ **Destroyers**. Carrying 2 NL45's, 2 MNPPC's, 50-Tonne Railcannon, 75 Capital-Class Missile tubes. 45 Point-Defence Medium Pulse Lasers, and Ferro-Fibrous Armour.

 **2\. 3 800m** _ **Roanoke-Class**_ **Cruisers**. Carrying 10 NL55's, 75-Tonne Double-Railcannon, 150 Capital-Class Missile-Tubes. 80 Point-Defence Large Pulse Lasers and Ferro-Fibrous Armour.

 **3\. 3 1.75km** _ **OK Corral-Class**_ **Battlecruisers**. 20 NL55's, 4 LNPPC's, 2 75-Tonne Railcannon, 200 Capital-Class Missile-Tubes. 135 Point-Defence Large Pulse-Lasers and Ferro-Fibrous armour.

 **4\. 1 3km** _ **Galahad-Class**_ **Carrier**. 350 Capital-Class Missile-Tubes, and 350 Point-Defence Large Pulse-Lasers. 450-Omnifighter capacity bay, with Ferro-Fibrous armour.

 **5\. 1 3.5km** _ **Yamato-Class**_ **Dreadnought**. 25 NL55's, 8 XLNPPC's, 3 250-tonne Triple-Action Railcannon's. 250 Capital Class Missile tubes. The Ferro-Fibrous can take around 5-6 plasma torpedoes before being destroyed.

His enemy had ships that were grouped in class, and length description. Cyberwarfare had pinpointed three classes they were facing.

 **1\. 13 1.6km** _ **CPV-Class**_ **Destroyers**. Load-out of 6 plasma torpedo launchers, considered the workhorse of the _Covenant Imperial Fleet_. Over 300 Pulse-Lasers for Point-Defence.

 **2\. 10 3.5km** _ **CCS-Class**_ **Battlecruisers**. Carrying 8 torpedo launchers, and a ventral weapon of unknown proportions, little is known about these ships.

 **3\. 4 5km** _ **CAS-Class**_ **Assault Carriers**. A very powerful unit, it is rumoured to have a single powerful weapon, capable of destroying entire ships with single shots.

Kerensky aligned his ships, as a group, beginning to aim for the dark of **Novo Franklin** , from the deck of his flagship _**Galahad**_. Slingshotting, and putting a planet in the way of scans, would give him a little time to plan an attack. The task force was coming in hard, doing around 45 G's, inertial dampeners straining as the bigger ships exerted more energy to keep up with the smaller ones.

His Task Force, was made up of several different nationalities, those that could be called on short notice. The **Free Worlds League** had contributed the 6 _Austerlitz_ Destroyers. The 3 _Roanoke_ Cruisers, and 3 _OK Corral_ Battlecruisers came from the **Terran Hegemony**. The _Galahad_ Carrier came from the **Federated Suns** , and the **Draconis Combine** had contributed a _Yamato_ Dreadnought. After getting to know each other in the combined structure of the **Star League's** command, the various ships began to compete for efficiency, and before you know it old rivalries had begun fading which made things far easier now then they were during the end of the _Age of War_.

Kerensky was trying to approach with the sun at his back, so when he rose over the horizon to greet the Covenant, he would flare their sensors and hopefully give him an advantage. The radiation from the local yellow star, was enough to send most sensors he could recall, completely haywire. Hopefully that would be enough to distract the Covenant.

The Fleet Admiral was concerned about his enemy, of course. The demonstration of their power at the _First Battle of Harvest_ , was certainly worrying, and didn't make things look good for humanity. Now, he was in charge of testing their capability, pushing to see what they were capable of, and he had reserves available.

This was the only thing left he could do, considering the results of trying to contact their flagship.

Aleksandr gave the order to deploy the Omnifighter contingents, and plot the Missile formulas for every ship. The Admiral was planning a massive strike to follow in the first salvo of his ships, as he decided on his targets for this pass.

Clearing the planet, the Covenant's fleet came into sight. Just as the **Star League** force crossed the horizon, the sun came with them, scrambling the sensors of their enemy.

"All ships, begin firing solutions!" With his order, the flotilla began to send their payloads at the first set of targets. Capital Lasers, PPC's, Railcannon's, all spoke across the void, targeting the _**CPV-Class**_ Heavy Destroyers. Shields flared bright-blueish-silver, trying to stop the incoming fire, before blowing apart under the strain.

The crew cheered, as they scored a major hit. Kerensky scanned the field of battle and looked about, as the ships began recharging their weapons and with-holding their missiles. It wasn't over yet. He ordered the fighters in close, to protect the ships in case something happened.

It was at this point, that the ten _**CCS-Class**_ Battlecruisers jumped into a sector far closer to them, and began launching their full load of plasma torpedoes. The Admiral guessed that this was an attempt to smother them. Beginning to disperse, they started to hunt ships of the human fleet. Kerensky grimaced, as he watched his ships take brutal hits.

"Sir, all 6 Marik ships are down." Aleksandr looked at his console, seeing three short videos of the ships bursting open, like a tank crushing a tin of beans. Grimacing, he watched as the celebrations screeched to a halt. With the quick death of their comrades, the crew realized that things were not in there favour to win.

"Have the missile's timed to arrive after the Railcannon's rounds, it won't give their shields time to recharge." Kerensky ordered, as the officers relayed commands to the others across the flotilla. Lasers began to flare again, sending emerald emissions towards the Battlecruisers, giving them no chance to dodge. Their shields flared into existence, shedding the energy and staying strong, even as the second volley of PPC's followed the previous in. Their shields held quite well, only 2 of the ten sparking and fading slightly, while they launched another wave of Plasma Torpedoes.

A groaning noise alerted Aleksandr to his ship disgorging 450 missiles. The Battlecruisers, Cruisers, and Dreadnought fired along with him, blanketing the space between the two fleets with a saturation of deadly devices. The Covenant's plasma torpedo launchers were reloading, energy building back up inside their ships, getting ready to receive the incoming wave of missiles.

With a rumble, the Railcannon's fired, the Kuritan ship hurling 250 tonnes of super-dense Ferrous-Uranium material through space at the Alien ships. At that point, choice missiles accelerated ahead of their brethren, and began to unfold like giant lotus'. A swarm of missiles began to leave the innards in a hypnotic pattern, making their way to the Covenant's lines, with a set purpose. Dodging an weaving through the anti-missile fire, they soon reached their destination, and detonated with an almighty fury.

Erupting like volcanoes, pure fusion warheads bathed their targets in atomic fury, trying to rend them down to base elements. As the spheres of energy cleared however...

"That's impossible..." Kerensky stated, staring at the shielded forms of the ten Battlecruisers. There they stood, unfortunately, shields flaring brightly. "Get the ships to fire the Railcannon's again, Lt., blow them to hell!" Aleksandr growled out. His fire-control officer complied, and the flotilla's arms spoke, sending around two-dozen mixed slugs down range.

The enemies plasma torpedoes cut down more of their number at this point, taking the Cruisers and Battlecruisers from the Human side, completely out of action. The ships vented atmosphere as they listed, and others began to emit explosions as chain reactions blew internal ammunition stores apart and failsafes activated, the last one darkening as it's systems struggled to stay on before finally going dead.

Kerensky's and the Covenant's ships were at knife-fighting distance now, and the rounds smashed into the shields within a few moments count, causing immense over-strain on their emitters. This collapsed the energy-shield of the Battlecruisers finally, and Kerensky grinned as his aptly-timed missile salvo detonated on the surface of the enemies skin, tearing straight into their armour.

Shaped-charges the size of _**Phantom's**_ and _**Spirit**_ DropShips blasted into their hull, in a vast multitude, dodging fire, and tanking it when it could. Over 1,000 missiles hit the Battlecruisers, 100 per ship, destroying most, and leaving the others floating useless. At this point, the group of four large ships in the rear made their move, launching torpedoes, and beginning to approach. Massive amounts of fighters came with them, approaching to disable their own ships, aiming to take out anything external on the human vessels, while contesting air-space with their enemy.

It was only his ship and the Kuritans left now, and the _**Susano'o(Yamato-Class)**_ was putting up one hell of a fight. Repeatedly firing their railcannon's per his plan, they were charging the closest of the Assault-Carriers, putting it's size int the way of the others weapons.

Having the fighters engage their opposite's, Kerensky began dedicating full system power to the Pulse-Laser Defence systems, so it could take care of the incoming torpedoes. He sent a couple squadrons to aid the Kuritans in the meanwhile, and began to send a message, hoping it would be received in time.

The 4 Assault-Carriers continued to advance towards their prey, intent on ending them. The _**Susano'o**_ was taking a beating, as two torpedoes had struck her by now, while trying to defeat a carrier on her lonesome. At this point, the Assault-Carrier rammed the smaller ship, and ran it over in a spectacular flash of fire, steel, and yellowish-fusion-explosions.

Aleksandr lowered his head in respect for all the dead that had passed thus far, for a scant moment, before raising his head to focus on the fight once more.

 **-Conan The Barbarian – 23 – Battle of the Mounds/Resourceful Warrior END-**

 _~Scene Change~_

 _~In the Escarpment Mountain Complex~_

Agent Robinson checked his suit and weapon, as the team opened the first of many encoded doors, to the Forerunner Labyrinth. The _**MI6**_ Agent was carrying two weapons, a powerful _**M.A.R.S.-Enfield LA-23**_ Gauss Assault Rifle. Miniaturized Gauss technology, had long been in the pipe, ever since leaving the birthworld. Perfection had taken a few centuries. Now, a reliable and powerful weapon was provided to the good men and women of the Federated Suns, firing a suitably powerful round.

An automatically-operated, Gaussian-acceleration based, 13.7mm weapon, it fired 750 rounds a minute. Capable of putting immense damage downrange, it was an incredible piece of weaponry, yet compact and reliable. Much like his armour. The _**Excalibur-Battlearmour**_ , was named due to the legend of the scabbard, not the sword. For, it is said that the scabbard made Artur invincible, and thus was the armour designed as such to give as much advantage to the individual Suns infanteer as possible.

 _ **M.A.R.S. Industries**_ engineers produced this suit, making it as modern and rugged, as could be managed with materials available. There were three classes of Powered Armours floating these days, Light-Medium-Heavy, filling varieties of rolls. Excalibur happened to be a Heavy Powered Armour. 2 tonnes of Myomer, Actuator, and Armour. Outfitted with a MW25 Fusion reactor, it gave Robinson nearly a foot and a half in height, and half that again in width. Underneath the Myomer musculature, and Endoskeleton, lay a Crystalline layer. Processing power, on the level of a Frigate, gave him the ability to host a smart AI in his suit. Extremely durable Ferro-Lamellor plates made up the exterior, stylized to make him look like a Knight of the Round Table, completely on purpose.

His armour gave him the look of a hulking oversized dwarf, one that had eaten growth hormones by the dozen, standing nearly 8' tall, and 3' wide. There was a suit of various other enhancements available to the Agent, but he would keep quiet about them for now. Robinson kept watch over the sternguard, as the team proceeded into the structure's depths.

No suspicious movement in his view, he continued following the Spartans, into the mysterious deep of the pyramid. Diamond in design, it had three walls. Pyramid. The OO winced internally. From what he could recall from _**MI6 Mission Files**_ , no report of Pyramid-exploration had EVER, ever gone well. Archaeology rarely did, having hidden traps and such from ancient civilizations.

Dating back to the Great War on Terra, there were incidences of exploration always going south, and producing strange situations. He wasn't too keen in descending into such a place without his BattleMech. Unfortunately, this facility was made completely out of tight corridors, and only had small rooms with transitioning portals every 100 feet of depth.

They had gone through three of these rooms, and expanded the charted areas. Now, having reached 300 feet, they were going straight forward. A portal was visible, down an impressively-long hallway.

 **-Halo OST #23-Suite Autumn START-**

As they reached the doors, they felt a sense of apprehension, like something grand was beginning. The door opened, as they approached, completely surprising them. Their AID's began to internally inform them that they had been scanned.

" **Penetrating scanning origin unknown, but it was there, I felt the wave. Be careful James, these Forerunners appear very proficient in technology, even in death."** James sent a mental thank you, to his AID, keeping his focus on the physical world, for any movement or hint of artifact's. Rifle training on all areas, he kept up his sternguard position, as they made their way into a large, and open room.

Three levels of galleries were visible in front of them, easily accessible right away, with three ascending ramps. There was a small terminal in the centre of the room, but no power lines appeared to be running to it, as no white humming energy was coursing through it's cobalt design. Making their way into the chamber, the team began to look around, keeping a circular cordon with each other, while surveying the interior.

There were more doors and exits than they knew what to do with currently. The idea was brought up to separate, but James shot it down immediately, pointing out that Spartans and other Super-Soldiers operate best as team units. The Spartans agreed, and decided the left chamber would be the first place they explored.

Striding through the chamber's humming door, they made their way into a square connected corridor, with two off-hand rooms. Nothing of concern was there, they were quite empty, so they continued onto the third door. Emerging into a wide and tall room, they took in their surroundings, moving to cover their axis of view quickly.

An immense chasm separated the two sides, and a single console was apparent from what they could see from here, as their side was nearly empty. The other side was shrouded in mist. Looking amongst themselves, they all wondered about who was going to go across. This was something that had to be done alone. No point in risking an asset, if it was a trap that would lead to your death.

That being said, the OO spoke up, saying he'd go. Walking over to the console, he placed a hand on it, feeling the shape and contour of the metal. Foreign, and familiar... Strange...

A bright-blue bridge of energy shimmered into being, stretching over the chasm.

"Well, we can't risk everyone's lives trying to cross that. Watch my six, let me know if there's trouble."

Sighing, the Agent of **MI6** began to walk across, alert for any threats. Slowly, he made his way across, doing his best to not disturb the composition of the bridge(as if that was a thing), but also to make sure he was constantly checking his threat-radius so nothing could sneak up upon him.

The Spartans and their accompanying 'snags'(as they usually classified anyone not from the _**Branch**_...) began securing the area, checking for any other interesting passageways that were accessible.

Across the bridge finally, he checked his radar, and different readout's. Clean. That could be good, or very, very bad. Walking across the cold metallic floor, he spied a ramp and archway, ascending near a corner. Walking all the way up, and in, he beheld a small overlook, keeping a fine view of the chasm and both it's sides. Inside, was a console in the centre of the room. 4

Suddenly activating, it displayed a ball, with hundreds of foreign symbols upon it.

" _Must be a password."_ Mused the Agent to his AID, as he examined the device, taking a picture and readings for the Mission-Report.

"Clearly there are permutations, and several commands that can be activated. Otherwise the interface would be much more limited." His aide assessed, as he filed away the knowledge for later.

Not knowing how to use it, he made his way back down, and across the bridge back to the party. Explaining to them his findings, Dr, Anders was impressed to say the least, and wanted to look at the next one.

"It is an unprecedented find for humanities knowledge, and I can get a first-hand look at their language." James nodded, and turned to Forge, as they made there way back to the main room.

"I need you to accompany me, and provide security here, while she does her thing with the artifact." Forge glanced over at the Spartans, but Omega Team made no comment, so he nodded. Gazing over at the second doorway, he looked thoughtful.

"You got it."

Now, James felt that he had things covered, in case Anders wasn't going to pay enough attention and cover her arcs while in a rush to examine the ancient artifact. When someone isn't doing their job, he had to ensure whoever was helping do the job, knew the score in case chips came down. Preparing for something after it happened, is insanity, something his instructor had taught him well.

Call it paranoia if you want, but many a time his preparatory nature had save him, especially on assignment.

"Anders, I hope you can focus on the job at hand, and keep your head out of the clouds until we get to the artifact." Anders looked over at him, her visor holding his gaze for a full 5 seconds, before looking ahead.

"I know how to do my job." Her calm demeanour was full of steel and anger, but it was a fair bit calmer this time around. As if she didn't want to let him get to her.

Good. He needed her focused.

"Alright. Here we go people." He clicked the console of the second passageways chasm, and a bridge appeared. Striding across it, they began to make there way to the other side, searching for any threats in the mist.

"What is it with ancient civilizations and misty temple's?" Forge threw out in the open.

"Forge. Focus." Reprimanded Anders, shaking her head at his joking ease, keeping her head on a swivel.

"Right." The Sgt. Major replied, sweeping his vector's for hostiles, training his PPC-Rifle on the shadows.

Robinson looked around, as they made it across the chasm, trying to spot a door or portal that led into the walls. Looking throughout the area, there was no apparent entrances, and he was dismayed at the lack of thereof. As they explored the opposite side of the bridge, nothing apparent came up, until after a few hundred feet. It was there that the wall shimmered, before hissing and revealing a recess, a door sliding up and into the wall.

"Anders, anything?" James asked, as he covered the rear. The resident _**ONI**_ genius rook a look through the corridor, and held her gaze for a few seconds.

"The view is interesting from here. I think you'll like a closer look." Raising an eyebrow, James turned and followed the two as they disappeared into the wall.

The view was interesting.

The corridor was alight with glyphs and glowing symbols, totally foreign to them, and obscure in their design. The team continued inwards, seeking the end of the tunnel, taking in the strange design and sites. As they made their way forward, it opened into a small main chamber. Ending with a circular dais, with rings ascending to the centre, a podium extending from the floor.

Anders approached, and upon her weight settling into the podium's ring, it activated. Bringing up a blue globe, filled full of the same symbols from the first, James smiled and pointed.

"I think there's a pattern here, or someone is trying to tell us something." The OO stated bemusedly, before taking various pictures, and starting the trek backward. The same result occurred, once they explored the third galleries corridor, and each area was tagged. Their job done, the team left a series of transmitters, and got back to their command as quick as can be.

 **-Halo OST #23-Suite Autumn END-**

James headed straight to debriefing with the Duke.

"Each area, once we explored it, activated a pass-key device of a sort. We're going to need a linguistics team, or Anders, if we trust her enough." James said calmly, going briefly over the report in Maurya's hands, watching him nod along.

"We will have to hurry. News from **Novo Franklin** , and it's not to good.

 **-TJ Perkins – Playing with Power(Official Theme) START-**

 _~Scene Change~_

 _~Over Novo Franklin~_

Arbiter Wattinree gazed over the human salvage he had personally brought back to his carrier. An arm of one of their Greater Daemon's, it was full of all sorts of machinery, and once looked at, he was sure the Huragok could give him an inclination of what they were dealing with. His captains were dealing with the humans, having carried out his orders to test them, though even he was surprised at some of their weapons.

The humans had long-rang Lasers, weapons that were akin to lightning bolts, and other destructive means. Their major disadvantages were the facts they had less manoeuvrability, and no energy-shields like his ships. However, they had a far better understanding of armour, and actually could withstand plasma torpedoes, an amazing thing in of itself.

He also now held the coordinate chain from the Forerunner Sanctum, that had activated with the human presence.

" _So... The Forerunner computers will activate near humans... Interesting... A secret I will keep and use for myself."_ Thought Xytan, as he scrutinized his mobile intelligence, he had taken to calling Recorder.

"What do you make of these coordinates, Recorder? The first set appear to lead us back to the first planet that the luminary sent the fool Moramee to..." Xytan mused, as he turned away from the overlooking rungs of the hangar, where the Exterminator's arm was resting. Recorder followed him, eye blinking and his audible hum drawing the Sangheili's attention.

" **I believe that we are to go back to that human planet. Somewhere upon it's surface, is information regarding the next location in this Great Relic's location."** Xytan nodded in satisfaction, having arrived at the same conclusion. A predatory grin lit across his face.

"It appears we have time to sharpen our claws against the humans." He murmured, as he punched in the floor for the bridge, the elevator accommodating his massive size with ease. Reaching the bridge, he sat down upon his throne, readying the ship and the other carriers to finish off the humans.

It was then that reinforcements jumped in.

 _~Scene Change~_

 _~SLS Gettysburg~_

 **Novo Franklin**

 **Nadir Jump Point**

 **SLS Gettysburg Super-Carrier**

 **2230 Hrs, 27th October, 2525**

Preston Jeremiah Cole, Rear Admiral of the Star League Defence Force, and commander of one of the few Super-Carrier's in the armada the _SLS Gettysburg_ surveyed the system as they jumped in. At 6km long, it is one of the few ships longer that what the Covenant have brought to the fight, albeit they only had a few of them(Supercarriers that is). However, Rear Admiral Cole, had brought in 2 relief fleets, from different systems, coordinating with another general who was given tactical command.

Morgan Kell, a legend in the FedSuns army who was now a Field Marshall, and entrusted to manage the fleet on the far side of the system. He was bringing in the newest of the _Artur-Class's_ sister-ships, amongst the assembled ships he had.

Together, they had 30 WarShips, more than enough to push the remainder of the Covenant out of the system and relieve the beleaguered Fleet Admiral.

15 300m Destroyers, 7 800m Cruisers, 4 1.75km Battlecruisers, 3 3.5km Dreadnoughts, and 1 6km Supercarrier gathered to oppose 4 5km Battleships. Upon seeing the reinforcements, the Covenant's fleet engaged their Drive-Core immediately, and entered Slipspace. They were not interested in trading Assault-Carriers for more human casualties, they had done enough today. Cole was rather disappointed, he really wanted a chance to test the stress's of the weapons and tactics he had, against an enemy that was far superior in material and weapons, to see if he could adapt.

His mentor had, during the Crescendo, when he faced Mad Max.

Cole opened a channel to the _FSN Galahad,_ bringing the Fleet Admiral into view for the crew and task force. Initiating a conference call, he pulled up Morgan Kell.

"Kell, Cole, good to see both of you made it in time." The Admiral greeted them in a crisp professional manner, with them all standing up for a virtual greeting. Cole saluted, Aleksandr saluting back, while Morgan nodded his respect, before they sat down in their chairs Fleet Admirals and Field Marshall's are considered equivalent.

"Well gentlemen, from the gathered data, it is apparent we are going to be guarding Harvest primarily for a fair while." Kerensky stated, forwarding the relevant data to the other commanders.

"I see. So, despite holding them here, your trail leads you back to the outer frontier..." Morgan mused, reading the various mission reports from the OO, the **Star League** dig teams, and others.

"We need to retake Harvest. Not only is it important for Federated Suns economic production, but something inside it's mountains holds value to the Covenant. We need to find out what that is." Cole said, staring at the data, eyes darting across it. Kerensky nodded.

"Agreed. If it is important to them, it is important to us. Let's get this trip underway, and sort out solutions to that later. Getting to Harvest as of now, is important." Kerensky cut the discussion, as the _Galahad_ joined the flotilla, and they began to prepare for Slipspace transition. Cutting into the higher dimension, they began to disappear one by one.

 _~Scene Change~_

 _~Harvest~_

 **Federated Suns**

 **Harvest**

 **2200 Hrs, 31st October 2525**

With the arrival of the relief fleet, reinforcement of **Harvest** began to take place, and various points were chosen for shoring up. The troops that arrived, begin to refurbish the defences surrounding the fortress, and reinvigorate the area. 5 Divisions came with the fleet, of Power-Armoured troops, in units of 12,000 apiece.

Infantry was all that could be mustered right now, new armour units were being produced as they spoke, and medium artillery to replace the ones the Covenant overran were being made as well. However, the Davion infantry carried itself with a sense of purpose, and had a plethora of weapons available to it that could prove tough for the Covenant to handle.

The remaining 'Mech's of the _**IIIrd RCT**_ took up stations over many points in the defences, being a walking reinforcement, they were easily valued along any line or formation. Lot's of them hid in the Mountains. It was then that word started to come in.

Attacks on world after world, all across the frontier. Covenant numbers quickly overwhelming local garrisons, and concentrating armour on larger ones. Their ships outmatched nearly everything that humanity had, so something had to be done. It was then they realized they were in for a lot longer war then they wanted.

Jumping into the system, a fleet of 42 Covenant ships appeared, startling the flotilla of **Star League** vessels. This was even as they were getting Hyperpulse's about the Covenant's new attacks across frontier-space.

They appeared to be using the same ratio of ships, 20 **1.6km** _ **CPV-Class**_ Heavy Destroyers, 16 **3.5km** _**CCS-Class**_ Battlecruisers, 6 **5km** _**CAS-Class**_ Assault Carriers, and a new contact – unknown classification. More than double what the readout was the first battle for Harvest, this thing was nearly 30km long!

The ships began charge weapons, before suddenly disappearing. Kerensky's eyes widened.

They were landing soldiers again. Damned pinpoint Slipspace drives.

Scanning the planet, it appeared that millions of troops were unloading, and preparing a large base on the other side of the super-continent. That was fine with him, if they wanted Harvest so bad, they were going to have to take it.

Putting the flotilla into action - 15 300m Destroyers, 7 800m Cruisers, 4 1.75km Battlecruisers, 3 3.5km Dreadnoughts, and 1 6km Supercarrier – Kerensky manoeuvred them into prime firing positions, and began launching fighters.

Unfortunately, the Covenant was having none of that this time, and thus was revealed the deadly intent of the massive new ship. Out of range of, of anything the humans had, a thin beam of energy appeared. Within seconds it cut open 3 ships on the battle-line, which immediately began listing, venting atmosphere and struggling to survive.

Kerensky looked at his computer. They were still at least a minute and a half to engagement ranges for the weapons on his ships. He had to make a command decision. Within two seconds, 3 more ships bit the energy-projector's blast, taking it to the teeth. At that point Aleksandr decided he couldn't risk anymore lives in his command.

"To all human forces in this system. We have not forgotten you. We will not leave you. You will be relieved. The Battle for Harvest, has just begun." With those words said, Fleet Admiral Kerensky jumped his battered and damaged ships out of the system, and into the depths of Slipspace.

 **TJ Perkins – Playing with Power(Official Theme) END-**

 **BATTLETECH WARS:**

 **PART 1: HARVEST II**

 _~End~_

 **AUTHOR NOTE** : Ok, been done doing some editing. With a little help from friends, I tried to smooth out the naval action in this chapter, and make the goals of the characters more apparent, while giving the reader-character a better immersive feel.

On the fleet designs, descriptions, and weapons. Considering how often this has been changed, I am going with mostly old Bungie specifications, but also my own. As you saw in the last chapter, all is not the same as it was originally with The Covenant, so I can play around a bit. As well, I'm using this war to kick off the industrial upgrades that factions I like, certainly need.

 **Codex:**

Until I get around to full entries into the other story, **_Saga's_** , i will do my best to describe characters, nations, and weapons at the end of chapters.

 **The Realms of Humanity:** The UNSC and it's UEG were the first government to reach the stars in this age of humanities reach into the stars. They fell because of corruption, and several other issues that were apparent but ignored. States formed, and after large amounts of warfare, worlds exchanged back and forth, the local space around Terra for 120LY, looks like this.

 **Terran Hegemony:** With the rebellion of the colonies, and rejection of unfair colonial doctrine, the corrupt old UEG tried to maintain control over the core Terran worlds. After two decades of further unrest and rebellion, Admiral James McKenna brought forth a plan to re-establish control, and was given a large amount of clearance for the project. McKenna realized the arrogance of the social-scientists was too far gone, and they had lost sight of the people they were trying to help. Using the fleet he had built, with new Slipspace engines, McKenna arrived over Terra, and forced them to dissolve the government.

Eventually, he established a system of meritorious service, and had peerage's granted throughout. Reviving the nobility system, and combining it with military service, he overhauled the society they lived in. Having experienced corruption for years and years, from those who hadn't worked hard to achieve status in life, the citizenry accepted the change.

The Hegemony is ruled these days, by the extended Cameron family, who took over after McKenna died. They proved their worth, and have served several times as Director-General's of the Terran Hegemony. The Hegemony controls 800 Star systems today(and telling how that happened gives away story material, so I'm gonna hold off on that!).

 **Federated Suns:** Formed in the 23rd Century, the Suns control nearly 600 worlds and star systems, East and South of Terra. Primarily an eclectic mix of British, and Celtic people's, from the former British Empire, they view themselves as the vision of King Arthur having been realized within the future of space. The Suns is led by the First Prince, carrying a proud military tradition with it's history, as it is consider it a rite of passage to serve an an officer. Others even enter as enlisted men, working their way from the bottom.

For those of you who don't get it, the FedSun's is not a democracy, and neither are most of the successor states, even the ones claiming to better models of freedom than the others.

 **Draconis Combine:** The realm of the Dragon, started as an attempt at a fresh start for the old Japanese Empire, before going through many upheavals. Not having sorted out the issues from it's old power struggles between military elites, and their noble families, the Combine has seen two families struggle to rule the realm. The Von Rohrs, and Kurita's, though the Kurita's are now on top. Controlling 375 systems East and North of Terra, the Dragon is only just recovering from the wrecking ball, that was the Von Rohrs rule.

 **Lyran Commonwealth:** The wealthiest of the successor states, and most industrious(but not most advanced), the commonwealth is ruled by House Steiner. Late in forming, their nation is descended primarily from central Europe, Germany for the most part. 450 Star systems are controlled by the Lyran's North and West of Terra, their power now beginning to centralize and develop, as the Lyrans were the last successor state to form. House Steiner recently was enshrined as Archons, removing the failing Marsden line.

 **Free Worlds League:** A confusing, yet interesting Great Power, the Marik League was the second to form after the Terran Hegemony was declared by James McKenna. Suffering from internal divisions, and ambitious nobles, several power plays had weakened it for a while. Resembles the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages. They controlled 350 realms to the West and South of Terra, before unfortunate decisions during the Crescendo lead to them losing 25 Star systems on their southern flank.

 **Capellan Confederation:** A dual-monarchy nation-state, with an ambitious nobility, and powerful Warrior-Houses. The descendants of Russia and China primarily live in this nation, having found their way to the stars, with Elias Liao's decisions to find a way to take their nation away from the bickering of Earth giving birth to their own state. Strangely, they reverted to monarchism, but kept close to the socialist(service to the state and all) trappings that had held them for nearly two centuries.

Powerful and advanced it was Maximilian Liao, raised poorly by doting and boastful parents, who decided to use this advantage to take on the Inner Sphere and make them submit to his greater rule. Now reduced to 95 Star Systems to the South of Terra, their ruling regime is now barely balanced between twin sisters, who have held an alliance since cognition due to the danger and madness their own sire held. Still holding a place at the great powers table, it is only through their uncompromising cooperation with the rest of the **Star League** , that they have been allowed to be independent.

 **Magistracy of Canopus:** Controlling few star systems, the Canopus peoples are a constitutional monarchy, with democratic representation. There are times when the Magestrix, their ruler, has overruled the Parliament, but it has only been in extreme cases. The Magistracy rules a portion of the Southwest of Marik-controlled space.

 **Taurian Concordat:** South of Davion space, the Concordat stands. Ruled by the Protector, it is a limited monarchy, with democratically elected governors and senators. Powerful in it's own right, it sits between the Inner Sphere, and the Rimward space of the Megacorporations.

 **Megacorporation Rimward Conglomerate:** They'll appear. They haven't yet, because the war hasn't expanded to their sector. A major canon divergence in any universe. My own creation, this is one of the results of earlier events. Some of you may be asking, how the hell can tech appear to go BACKWARDS? Which is what some of it appears to be doing. Well, the answer will appear in the other stories, Saga's and the Star League of the Orion Arm Codex, when those chapters are worked upon and finished.

 **Other cool shit;**

 **Battlearmour:** The troops across the Inner Sphere, the standing armies, all have powered armour. Definitely not as powerful as **MJOLNIR** , though they don't have the problems of needing an enhanced body and won't kill the occupant, and I even stated that there are different classes. I will expand upon that in the future, of course. When you get into the versions the Super-Soldiers wear, is when the armours start getting more complicated, and enhanced.

 **Personal Weapons:** The troops all have Gauss, PPC, or Laser weapons. A significant upgrade from standard canon Halo, this gives a great advantage on the ground in the hands of individual troops. In canon, the Covenant enjoy a significant advantage with their Plasma-Based weapons and tech, using this against humanity to great effect, and they STILL managed to gain ground using plain tactics and chemically-propelled rounds for the most part. This is the influences of the various other universe's, and BattleTech's warring nature(although there is massive stagnation in the universe there to...), which produces energy weapons, and many other wonders at an earlier era. There are events that will allow the timeline to evolve into what I have described in the past to this future.

 **Tanks, Armoured Vehicles, Hovercraft:** Produced in various classes, they can go up to 100 tonnes, and carry immense amounts of armour and firepower, compared to canon-Halo. BattleTech vehicles are really cool, and fun to play around with, for anyone who has ever cracked a TechManual or opened any of the other plethora of books, they understand what I mean. Building vehicles is fun, and nearly unlimited options exist in BattleTech, adding to everything else that will come into play.

 **BattleMech:** First produced in the early 24th Century, these armoured bipedal humanoid machines, and avatars of war quickly became the shock troops of the new and updated battlefield. Incredibly mobile, able to withstand immense firepower, and carry modular weapons into battle. Requiring a neural connection-helmet during the earliest models, a gyro that required training to master and use, and humanoid rhythm to it's gait. Ranging from 20-100 tonne's, these behemoths rule the Battlefields of this age, Avatar's of War striding across it as powerful colossus's.

 **WarShips:** Besides the classes described, humanity has a better level of naval capability. I have described two types of drives, and here is a brief synopsis.

JumpDrive, uses immense amounts of energy, to open a hole to Hyperspace for a moment. At the current time, with the energy levels and materials humanity has, the drive was limited to a 30LY circumference. Invented by Thomas Kearney and Takayoshi Fuchida, it has a massive super-conducting core, which it uses to pierce the barrier into Hyperspace once the charge is full. Not able to hold concentrations of energy necessary for Hyperspace to stay open(as it requires superconducting materials of a grade that humanity just doesn't possess yet), JumpDrives are incredibly useful and instantaneous. Once the drives jump distance is expanded however, they have predicted longer travel times, once they get around the superconducting materials issues.

The Slipspace drive was invented because of Earth/Terra's propensity to produce genius's and redefine physics and mathematics. The inventors of Slipspace were Tobias Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa, who happened to be recruited by the _**ONI**_ of that era, to aid the Terran Hegemony. The drive helped with the second surge of colonization, but ultimately led to All-Out-War between the powers of the Inner Sphere. Now utilized together, they help humanity chart the vast regions of the stars. Continuously improving, the JumpDrive is now capable of a 60LY reach, while Slipspace drives are getting more and more rugged all the time able to handle system effects for more pinpoint jumps.

The armour, reactor's, and weapons on the ground, are super-sized in space. However, they are not quite powerful enough in output to outright breach, or drain large portions of Covenant shields by themselves. En masse, with proper tactics, they are devastating. Armour, has been developed, in lieu of not being able to produce energy-shielding yet... This is a major theme of the timeline, armour, and materials development.

 **DropShips:** The transit ship, for most of the forces of the Inner Sphere, from orbit to the surface. Carrying mass amounts of troops, and equipment, they use modified Fusion Drives to enter and exit atmosphere. Carrying significant amounts of armour, weapons, and sensors, they are not an easy target at all even for thing's like Corvette's. The lightest weigh 6,000 tonnes.

 **Super Soldiers, and Intelligence Operators:** Now that I've show encounters with several example's of high-ranking, and ground-level personnel here, I will describe them. In some star nations, the only ones enhanced, are specific operatives in special divisions of intelligence. Others have whole Super-Soldier branch's.

 **Robinson:** OC, from the FedSun's MI6, who just so happens is an enhanced operative/soldier. Trained in the vein of a guerrilla specialist, to have skills across many fields, trained to be suave superior and precise to easily gel into circles like the highest echelon of the Intelligence of the FedSun's. To be a OO, is to be the best, and this is what James is trained as. Shades of James Bond.

 **Spartans:** Specifics will be given later on, but suffice to say there are more than in Halo, to say the least. DropShips like the _Leonidas_ are 100,000 tonnes, carrying a lot of personnel, equipment, and materials. Each 'team' of Spartans has their own DropShip. There may or may not be special about there ships. The Spartans are like the S-II's, featuring those born in this era, while their capabilities are somewhat better because of the Age of War. Their armour is stronger, slightly faster, and more durable. Also, their weapons, and operational capacity is beyond anything the original games had in mind. Don't worry, there will be time to tell of this.

 **Story:** Now, the Spartan's here are from _Halo Wars_ , which despite my misgivings about the Retcon... Did a great job of describing parts of the Harvest Campaign, and the beginning of the Outer Colonies Campaign, so...

For now, we will be on the Halo Wars portion of the story, until I finish the campaign. Then it will be a description of the campaigns, against the human space, and we will start with the events that lead to Reach. I hope to see more reviews, but hey, 40 and 40 for likes and fav's is pretty damn good and I'll take it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Mantle Across A Starry League**

 **Disclaimer** : I own no franchise or original content that appears within. They belong to their creator's, and owners.

 **Summary** : Megaverse. A grand vision, on how Mass Effect, and others will be affected by a humanity forged from the influences of 1980's-2000's Sci-Fi and such. Prepare for BattleMech's, Powered Armour's, Fusion, Energy Weapons, Psychics, Magics, and more. How will the Citadel deal with a humanity that has seen and has Cyborgs, Super-Soldiers, BattleMech's, WarShips, with more to come?

 **Chapter 7-BattleTech Wars: Part 2 – Harvest III**

" _I am the punishment of God... If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me, upon you"-Genghis Khan_

 **-Halo Wars OST – Spirit of Fire START-**

 **Federated Suns**

 **Harvest**

" _Captain's Report. **February 4** **th** **, 2531.** Five years. Five long years. That's what it took us to get Harvest back... At first it was going well... Then setback after setback... Loss after loss... Made what should have been a quick and decisive win, into five years of hell. Of course, that's all Harvest is today, it's hell down there. But now it's ours again..."_

 **February 4th, 24531**

Five and a half years have passed since the beginning of the struggle with the alien entities known as The Covenant. Attacking across the breadth of the frontier-space, they launched all sorts of assaults and raids, but Harvest was their focal point in human space.

Despite the first shocking, and effective defeat of the ground forces they brought to the planet, the Covenant's resilience began showing shortly after that. Proving imitative, and inherently adaptive to tactics, they were able to make every situation worse as it came.

Humans would gain ground initially, but massed infantry armour and air power from the Covenant's side, would prove troublesome even for the powerful large field armies of the Successor States that were under attack. The Federated Sun's were bearing the largest brunt, thus far, while the Draconis Combine has faced attacks as well.

Once the Covenant's reinforcement arrived during the _Second Battle of Harvest_ , Fleet Admiral Kerensky and Rear Admiral Cole took the remainder of their forces back to Star League space, rather than waste lives. The enemies capabilities in space were evident, and couldn't be matched. Thus, humanities naval tactics would have to be re-examined before they sent out the next Battlegroups, to retake frontier-space, and wreak destruction upon those who took so many human lives in such a short span.

The Covenant's appearance had been shocking, having been broadcasted fairly quickly due to their disruption of trade and goods, giving humanity a shudder when this massively advanced alien juggernaut appeared from the Orion Arm's east. Taking no prisoners, and scorching everything in front of them, their nature to take no prisoners caused some unrest, but ultimately it was now a military and Star League problem. The main decisions made after a series of conferences between the leaders of the nations, and various high-ranking personnel, that were for an overhaul of their naval research for starters.

While there ships were fast and manoeuvrable in real-space, the Covenant's weapons, shields and Slipspace outstripped them by a considerable margin. Admirals congregated, and began to have discussions on how to best deal with the apparent superiority their enemy had, trying to develop ways and theories on how to gain advantage in space. Their discussions took them from the ships available, specs, weapons, to the environments went on for days. Ways to utilize system effects, how to produce phenomena, and where the best places to sortie were were all being plotted by professors, tacticians, theoreticians, and learned strategist's who wanted to outfight the Covenant.

Shipyards were now turning out more ships, troops were training for the SLDF and moving into position, the civilian infrastructure was upping production once more to a wartime capacity. Materials flowed, as the two realms bearing the brunt of the continuous assault, were struggling to stop inroads being made as the Covenant continuously claimed victories in naval and ground-side engagements.

The Covenant were not _"resting on laurels"_ as they say, there had been marked improvements in not only tactical acumen but were putting out stronger and better vehicles. Their tendency to change their methods, proved annoying in battle, since they proved unusually effective at this was now being showcased next to their new equipment.

Having taken from human design, and ascetic, the Covenant had improved their own technology, based on their own first engagements with humanity. Their CPV-Class Heavy Destroyers were not much use, if they kept getting blown up before launching torpedoes, and the strength of their shields needed to be increased to deal with the combined weaponry they faced. Slowly but surely, humanity noticed that the designs were getting larger and larger, to the point where a Covenant Heavy Destroyer was the size of a 3.5km Battleships.

Proving to be a major problem when faced, the Covenant Fleet had begun increasing the numbers of fighters carried by their ships, and carried a heavy weapon now in every ship modelled after the overwhelmingly powerful Energy Projectors. Less powerful Plasma Projectors, now were common in every ship they faced, not only having to worry about torpedoes now. Anti-Missile and Fighter defences were increased in number and ability, to deal with the Capital-Class missiles that human ships carried, and their potentially deadly Fusion payloads.

Captain James Cutter removed the thoughts clouding his mind, as he stared down at the ball of blue, green, and the accompanying colours associated with planetary plasma scoring. Sitting heavily down onto his comfortable chair, he began to go through the motions of initiating protocols, as his ship just came out of slipspace.

The converted-Supercarrier _**SLS Spirit of Fire**_ , along with a few other ships, began to bring it's personnel out of cryo and get everything ready for the relief of the system. Alongside his friend Maurya, he had been waiting for this moment for over 5 years, wanting to retrieve the soldiers he sent to an apparent death.

Cutter blinked the sleep from his eyes, and his thoughts wandered back to _their_ discoveries. The coordinates deciphered. The language they had been working on. Not being able to come to Harvest for a long time, the system being blocked by large amounts of ships for a while, they had hoped the forces they had landed held out.

A forlorn thing to wish for, in light of the numbers the Covenant had, but one they nonetheless held onto.

The fleet was bringing over to 100,000 troops, 10 full divisions of tanks, 'Mechs, artillery, and such. This was actually all part of an attempt to continue their operation from five years ago, so they could continue the path the coordinates provided, and complete their journey. The excess numbers assigned to the fleet, were to provide additional assets, so they wouldn't need reinforcements, supplies or replacements.

"I see your already awake." Cutter turned at the voice, noting that Duke Maurya had made it to the bridge. Fresh and dressed proper as always, the man was just losing the icy tint that indicated coming out of the freezer. James groaned.

"In spirit. Notice anything unusual?" The Captain nodded lightly at the planet. Maurya studied the consoles first, checking readouts, before looking upon his planet.

"There's no enemy ships in system, but there are large numbers on the planet, mostly concentrated around the mountain. It appears that no human forces remain." The Duke assessed, while crossing his arms, resting his chin on a hand.

"Yes. Therefore, I think we need a closer look at the ground, to see what is actually going on."

 **-Halo Wars OST – Spirit of Fire END-**

 **-Epic Space Battles – Two Steps From Hell - Protectors of the Earth Cinematic START-**

Tasking a flight of _**Eagle's**_ , 75-tonne Heavy Aerospace Fighters, to do several sensor passes, Cutter and Maurya watched as they begin to accelerate towards the planet.

" _Eagle-1 requesting status."_

" _Eagle-2, standing by."_

" _Eagle-3, standing by."_

" _Eagle-4, standing by."_

" _Eagle-5, standing by."_

" _Eagle-1, reporting my squad as green across the board, ready for overflight of Covenant and Harvest landscape."_

Cutter tapped his console, and began to speak into his headset, while the Duke listened in.

" _Understood Eagle-1. You are to vector to the human parts of Harvest, and find out what happened to those we left there. Then, you will go around the planet, and attempt to scan for there life-signs. Finally, you are to scan the Covenant, and the complex, near the escarpment. Do you understand?"_ The Captain said, and waited for an answer.

" _Yes Captain. Vectoring for the human settlement remains now."_ Eagle-1 input a set of coordinates, and the flight began an approach angle to the StarPort, while keeping a loose formation.

Holovideo feed soon was being displayed, and they were watching what remained of downtown Utgardhr.

Not much remained, and so many buildings were reduced to heaps of glass, metal, and ceramics. Apartment buildings were scorched black and ripped open. All the tall ones were knocked down, and the smaller ones were torn to pieces, with burnt bones and remains everywhere. The scale of this washed over the two, both extremely angered but they tempered it immediately, as they witnessed the results of two forces destroying each other and everything around them.

"There isn't much more here sir. Heading to the non-occupied areas of Harvest."

"Roger Eagle-1. Report anything out of the ordinary."

 _~Perspective Shift~_

 _ **AFFC**_ Air Force Captain Connor O'Brien kept his fighter close to the nape-of-the-earth, as he and his squadron blasted over the ocean. Sea-foam and spray would occasionally lick at their hulls, as they observed the deep greens and blues of the Harvest ocean, splashing them with water that was quickly ripped ripped off their planes.

Grinning to himself, Connor enjoyed the feeling and jinking back and forth over the waves, while they did their job and scanned the lands and sea. The aerospace fighters skimmed the surface occasionally, dipping a wingtip into the water, as he he pushed it's limits.

Disturbed, a school of dolphin like marine-life leapt from the sub-surface, and chittered wildly at the rapidly disappearing forms in the air.

Laughing, as he saw what the rear cameras picked up, smiling at the wildlife's actions.

" _Oceans are clear Captain Cutter. Moving on to the next objective."_ Connor reported in, as they began to race overland again.

 _~Perspective Shift~_

Maurya and Cutter kept their eyes on the holo.

"It looks like the only ones left..." James began.

"Are probably holed up in the mountains, yes I was thinking that as well. It is certainly big enough, and if what we know about this technology is true, it is less responsive to Covenant than Humans." Maurya finished, while thinking about the possible forces still on Harvest, considering the streets and land were empty.

"Hm. I was hoping there would be survivors, that made it in the cities, and oceans. The Covenant cleaned out everything they could, very thoroughly." Cutter grimly noted, and Maurya nodded.

The Duke glanced at the comms operations area.

"No transmissions?" Cutter nodded in the negative.

"No transmissions from our frequencies. Plenty of regular Covenant chatter."

" **They might be a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield and in space, but their CyberWarfare skills have great room for improvement."** Serina, the AI of the **_Spirit_** , spoke up. Materializing in an ancient Celtic priestess' garb, she put on a show of 'weaving a spell', as her functions moved unopposed through the Covenant Battlenet.

Cutter rolled his eyes at the theatrics of his AI friend, while Maurya chuckled lightly, as the Captain focused upon the results and information she was pulling. With Serina actively translating the code, and into his neural net, Cutter could actually _comprehend_ what her actions were accomplishing. He watched, focused, upon the lines of code that Serina was flying through.

"Supply dumps. Armour concentrations. Fleet movements. Troop locations. Defence lines. That's very good Serina, thank you. Keep searching for chatter on humans." Cutter tagged all the relevant and necessary information, and turned to the Duke, as Serina resumed her attack.

"The Covenant are very static at this time. Apparently, their fleet scoured the system once we left Harvest last time, trying to locate any other human ships or installations. Strange, considering they took out everything with that battleship, but maybe this commander thought we had deeper installations and stealth ships here. Regardless, this allowed our troops to make for the Forerunner structure in the escarpment, and consolidate a defence. Somehow, they've been able to keep themselves supplied all this time, but it is unclear how many made it given the severe damage to the landscape. Recently, their naval assets left via slipspace, on a fuelling run." Cutter's assessment was given while they walked down a hall to a lift. Punching a few coordinates in, Cutter settled against a rail, with his arms folded upon his chest.

"So, you think we can pull this off?" He asked, while staring out the window, as metal, machinery, and such blurred by.

"I'm actually more concerned with the feelings I've been getting, ever since we got in system, as it's telling me this could be a trap. When Serina read through their BattleNet, and you said that their fleet left, it only made my gut feel worse. I only hope I am proven wrong..." Maurya stated, as his face wrinkled while deep in thought.

"I am not sure that it is. From what Serina has found out, it is a routine fuel run." Cutter stated, and Maurya half-frowned, before nodding.

"It is just hard to believe that James. That may be what the Covenant's system register, but what if that is not the truth of the matter?" Maurya stated, with a questioning look directed at the Captain. Cutter looked to the side in thought.

"It's possible. However, we don't have a choice at the moment, we are committed to this mission now that we know survivors are down there." James' swift reply overrode any protest the Duke had.

He nodded in thought, while considering the possibilities of what the people down there could have gotten their hands on, in the last five years.

"You think they might have more information on the Forerunner ruins, and it's coordinate puzzle." More of a question, than a statement, and now the Duke was looking piercingly at the Captain.

"Yes. We are hoping for some degree of information from the people who have probably been trapped down there for five years. It could be invaluable, what they know." Cutter replied.

"Are we going to annihilate the Covenant's troops first?" Duke Maurya was looking forward to revenge for the deaths of Harvest's citizens, and absolutely wrecking the Covenant's presence on this planet.

"Using our fighters to screen their air power, we will use select strikes on the massed formations, but their ground base has several large anti-air cannons... A ground assault is a necessity." Cutter said, then brought his his high-tech bracer up, projecting a _**Balor-Class**_ DropShip.

"This DropShip will land and form a base to deploy from, putting around 24,000 soldiers, 100 Assault Tanks, 100 Heavy Artillery platforms, 100 CAS(Close-air-support) Aerospace Fighters, and 100 AssaultMech's. This should be enough to break that base, if you position it right, before assaulting them en masse." Cutter detailed several overland routes, and advantageous area that they could strike from.

Maurya took a look, and saw that the Covenant had based themselves in the valley leading up the Forerunner structure, giving them several over-watch positions they could access with just a little overland trek. The former highway was busy with activity, showing several large structures and bays, working on large amounts of tanks, weapons, and walkers of various sizes.

As they trailed up the path, towards the mountainous entrance, they noticed that this portion of the valley held a large amount of mechanized troops. More than a few large quadrupeds, not nearly the size of the massive Scarab sat with their legs folded, as multitudes of armour milled about around them. Transports, Hovertanks, and fast attack craft, all were present in this mix. Obviously they were preparing a large strike-force, to take the complex.

"Now that is fairly interesting. Why do they need such a large force to take the structure?" The Duke asked, with a small smirk on his face. Cutter grunted.

"I think our forces made it underground, in a size-able number, and someone very smart must be organizing the defence." The Captain assessed with a hard stare.

Finally, they arrived at Cutters desired destination, one of the private mess-rooms where briefings could be conducted.

"Ah, good, you are all here already." The Captain said appraisingly, as the two teams sprung to attention, and saluted with a roar of-

"CAPTAIN ON THE DECK!"

-and Cutter smiled, as he returned the salute.

"At ease, and you may be seated Spartans, Agents." The Captain strode to the head of the table, with the Duke taking a left-hand seat. The holo lit up, and put forth the geographic overlay of the Covenant's positions, giving the teams an idea of what was on the planet.

"As you can see, there are significant concentrations of Covenant forces in this base, all situated around some rather large anti-air guns." Cutter brought a close-in shot of one of the towers, a 5-Story contraption with a large cannon, capabilities rated to engage their ships.

"There are 10 of these guns grouped together, and they have enough firepower to overwhelm anything that gets close enough. Not only that, they have a large and powerful dome shield covering it all, making such an approach difficult with our naval assets. This is where your team will come in." Cutter showed the locations as he zoomed outwards, and several arrows began to point to areas surrounding it.

"We've come up with all sorts of plans for Harvest, over these last few years, and this one was the closest that could be adapted to this scenario. Travelling over the mountains, while we engage the larger formations straying away from their Ground-to-Orbit artillery, you will find a way into that mountain... Without alerting the Covenant to your presence." The Agents and Spartans nodded, as Maurya explained their mission.

"When there, you will make contact with the Harvest remnant, so we can organize and coordinate an offensive." The Duke said, and the two teams nodded again not offering much input, as they were already working on ways to execute.

"Our goal here, is to try and bring the Covenant base into a double-envelopment, with both our contingents attacking simultaneously." The Duke now manipulated the hologram, to show several spears attacking the base, from both sides.

"Thats quite agreeable then. The quieter we keep ourselves, greater chance to eliminate the enemy." The Agents primary demolitionist spoke up.

"Indeed. We will need to keep our tracks and signature minimal, to obtain access, and bring about this assault. I'm not even sure this place can be accessed, anywhere other than from the front, but we can only try." The Spartans leader, Blue-1, ground out.

"Yes, Blue-1 brings a good point up, being that there could possibly be only one entrance. However, we believe that the upper portion of the structures got entrances, higher up the peak. This means that we will not even be trying an airdrop near the base, you will need to make your way overland from a fair distance." Cutter said, and nodded to the Duke, who changed the holo's projection again, bringing up a hovering tank.

"The _Bors_ Medium Hovertank. Ruggedly tested, this unit was developed through strenuous ruggedization experiments, as we've been struggling to overcome all the old problems. With this model, we believe that we have struck it right, and brought forth a model that can ascend a mountain and cross vast bodies of water." The tank rotated for them to see, and they all spotted that it had nearly 32 emitters on it's bottom, all grouped in various areas to support each other and compensate should one be damaged and malfunction.

"Possessing our latest in stealth-technology, the Chameleon-Panels and Void Null-Sig system, this tank is made for penetration and infiltration of an enemies lines. It only carries two weapon, an Ultra Autocannon 20 giving it powerful kill-shot capabilities, and a Rotary Autocannon 5 for dealing with infantry. Of course, being weaker than tanks like the _Lancelot_ , it isn't meant for direct confrontation... The _Bors_ has the ability to deal disabling damage, so it can retreat, and accomplish it's mission." The Duke zoomed in upon the engine compartment.

"It's engine is rated for a solid 120 mph, but acceleration is where it really shines, being capable of 0-60mph in 1.27 seconds." The Spartans and Agents smirked, imagining running enemy aliens over, and darting around while taking debilitating pot shots at armoured columns and shredding their smaller vehicles with the RAC5.

"Satisfied? Questions?" The Captain turned to his two teams, as the Duke shut off the holo. Each of them turned to look amongst each other, sharing various looks, before readdressing the Captain and Duke.

"No, I think we have all we need, the briefing was comprehensive enough. Any problems you want to raise, Agent?" Blue-1 said, and looked across the table. The Agent shook his head negatively.

"No. We are ready to embark." The Agents awaited a dismissal, as did the Spartans.

"Very well, you are dismissed." The Captain stood, and all the Agents and Spartans stood and saluted, Cutter returning it before striding out the door with Duke Maurya in tow.

 **-Epic Space Battles – Two Steps From Hell - Protectors of the Earth Cinematic END-**

 **-The best 8-bit music top 100; #71: Final Fantasy II / NFC - Main Theme START-**

Without many words, the teams made their way to their ships, preparing for the drop while over the mountains. The DropShip launched post-haste, maintaining a structured descent, and skirting around the engagement range of the Covenant base.

The fleet opened up with it's Ortillery, sending round after round smashing into the the large Covenant formations, decimating them. Railcannon's pounded to dust what they had out in the field, as they were caught in the open with few places to go, not being fast enough to retreat to the operational area of the guns.

Besides, fact is that the base was already chock-full, and busy as hell making new units and repairing existing ones. This meant that the Unggoy and Kig'Yar were dieing by the thousands again, mostly the so-called _Grunts_ , as they made up the bulk numbers the alien zealots possessed. Their numerous armoured vehicles, transports, and mobile weapons were all blown to hell as the carpet of rounds marched towards the base.

Unfortunately, an adventurous Marik cruiser got too close, and the bases guns began rapidly firing at it. Rapid bolts of plasma arced through the atmosphere, at a frenzied pace, and began to strike the cruiser repeatedly, scoring hits on it's frontal armour. Within moments, it had reversed it's engines, and was now backing out of the area, just as the rest of the fleet ceased firing.

The last few rounds bit into the surrounding area of the base, flattening the land, and creating many craters.

Watching the battle via a HoloNet uplink to the ship, Blue-1 projected the conflict so his team could see it, and they would explain it to their pilot teammate later. Silently they observed the bombardment, and watched the Marik's nearly get taken out, as the Freeworlder's tried to get an advantageous shot in.

"They nearly paid for that one." Blue-3 observed.

"Yeah, and they made the ground easily cover-able with defilade fire, from the Covenant's lines. I mean, did you have to give the bad guys an advantage?" Blue-2 questioned, amusement in his voice.

"It doesn't matter, we will find a way." Spoke the immense Blue-4 in a calm, yet gravelly voice, as he sat back and tried to relax.

Soon they were over the drop-point, and were discharged from the ship, coming out over the ocean.

The DropShip continued it's trajectory unperturbed.

Their drop-pods engines ignited, and began redirecting them to land on the other side of the mountains, away from the presence of the enemies guns. Semi-gliding and under power, the two pods came in at a 20% angle, impacting with significant velocity as they tried to land.

The pods began to split, and soon revealed two _Bors_ Medium Hovertanks, which started up and began to trundle up the mount. Gaining speed rapidly, the tanks raced through the crags and cliffs, climbing over many areas that would be difficult to reach individually. Their engines generated an effect, that while it suspended the machines off the ground, it also _stuck_ them to the earth.

Ascending cliffs that had a 70% slope, would make most nauseous, or plain freaked out. That being said, the Spartans and Agents enjoyed racing around the rocky landscape, pushing their machines as only each could. Searching as much as they could, while making the long trek, they a were able to view a lot of Harvest natural beauty.

Feeling their pride swelling, at beholding this, the two teams felt more of a need to protect emerge within them. They felt deep within them, the need to protect everything, the humans and the planets that their realms held. This rising didn't distract them, but rather spurred onwards, to find an entrance that would lead to their brethren.

Eventually, they came upon one such hidden entrance. Buried in a craggy alcove, the teams spotted it when passing near and seeing a glimmering black and blue door shining inside faintly.

Blue-1 chatted over the nanocomm with the Agents team leader, and they agreed to disembark.

Blue-5 set their vehicle on auto-defend, tasking their AI Suvorov, to use their vehicle to ably keep the Covenant out of their hair. Ceredwick, the Davion AI, guided the other hovertank.

"Alright, lets get going." Blue-1 spoke to the assembled troop, before they began to assess the entrance-way. Blue-2 pulled out an attachment, and clipped it onto his forearm, before beginning to scan the wall around the doorway. With soft **boop** , a portion opened up, and thrust a panel forward.

"Got a panel!" The Spartan reported, and the others gathered around, Blue-1 and Agent-Leader peering over his shoulder.

"It is definitely a complex door lock. I can't really make out it's systems, but I would say it has several countermeasures for sabotage, and only responds to certain people trying to access it." Blue-2 reported to the others.

"Alright. Try pressing a palm to it." Blue-1 ordered while nodding.

With only a seconds pause, the Spartan put his hand upon the panel, palm spread. A humming emitted from it, while the crystalline surface around his fingers glowed, lighting up his gauntlet armour.

"Automatic scanning, and it's responding to touch. Do we have any clue why this works this way?" Blue-2 asked, as his hand pulled away, the lightshow having dimmed.

A whoosh, and the door opened, splitting into it's four sections evenly. Blue-1 began a reply, even as they formed up to begin trekking through the tunnel.

"We have no real intel on why Forerunner devices work for us, we only know that they do, so for now we use that to our advantage." His gravelly voice said, as he walked forward into the lead-scout position.

"Ah. Well hopefully the next one we touch doesn't cause body-parts to fly off, as I can imagine that just like us, the Forerunner were not altruistic." Agent-Leader said dryly, thinking about the possibilities of a demented and vengeful Forerunner making and leaving a machine behind, that could cause body-parts to explode...

Blue-02 chuckled.

"Unlikely, however much of a chance there is of that, because the scanners always check for high-energy element alongside binary and trinary element combinations that can possibly blow us to kingdom come." The Blue Team member stated, as they walked down the long hallway.

"One can only hope so..." Mumbled one of the Agents.

The group walked quickly, and covered much distance in short order, arriving into the larger complex. Within minutes, they ran into a patrol of infantryman, and were immediately recognized.

"Sir, is it ever good to see you!" One of the infanteers exclaimed, as they all began to chat and ask questions of the Spartans and Agents, wanting to know about events outside Harvest from the last five years.

"Understandably. What we need to know from you soldiers is this. How have you survived these last five years in this place?" The troop Lieutenant grinned, and just motioned for them to come with.

"You're gonna love this place, sirs, it has **everything**. Wait until I get you to the man in charge though." the Lt grinned, and just continued onwards into the complex with everyone following him.

As they made there way throughout, they noted that there was in fact a large amount of the **_IIIrd RCT's_** units, guarding every bit of the place that they could. Strange gasbag-like aliens floated about various places, and more than once they lowered their guns, being told that they were harmless.

Finally, they got to the main chamber, and inside were more than three-dozen personnel, all working at various areas doing tasks on jury-rigged consoles.

"Ah, so you are the relief force that has come to save our sorry butts." A voice brought their attention back to the centre of the room. A long table, with various holograms upon it, whereupon the one who addressed them was at it's side.

Coyote-coloured armour, a handsome and rugged face, with clean-cut brown hair.

"Robinson, how are you doing old boy!" The Agent-Leader greeted cheerily, as he noted the others around him.

The Spartans greeted each other quietly in the background, Blue reuniting with Ω after quite some time. The teams gave each other the smile-

"Fairly well, all things considered. Let me introduce my companions." The OO shook the Agents hand heartily, as he began to gesture to those surrounding the table.

"That's Spartan Team Ω. I'm sure you know what they are like, since you brought their Blue-Team with you." The three Spartans nodded politely, their dull black suits betraying no emotion.

"Dr. Ellen Anders, ONI Section III, our resident genius when it comes to the technical aspects of this structure." Anders saluted crisply, but narrowed her eyes when Robinson mentioned her allegiance to ONI, even as she brightened when he praised her ability with the Forerunner systems.

"Sgt. Major John Forge, from the **_TMC_** ( ** _Terran Marine Corps_** ), and quite the defence specialist. He's optimized our use of the defences we've found here, and kept the entire base Covenant-free." The leatherneck saluted, and nodded politely to all.

"Of course, I am Agent Robinson, James Robinson OO3 of the **_MI6-OO Section_**." He saluted the teams, and nodded his ascent for their introductions to begin.

"On my team, we have OO's 1, 2, 5, 8, and 9. Our names are unnecessary for now." James nodded, and looked to the Spartan team.

"I have been designated as Blue-1 for this mission, and my team are Blue-2-through-5. Our names are only told to those closest to us." The somewhat cold answer by the Blue Team leader was brushed off by James. Understandably, they felt no need to tell everyone their names, as it was part classified material.

"Ok James, give it to me straight chum. How the bloody hell have you maintained an effective fighting force in here, while keeping them all fed?" James grinned as OO1 fixed him with questions, an amused stare, and waited for answers.

"Dr. Anders, I'll leave that to you to explain." James nodded to the Doctor to take over.

 **-The best 8-bit music top 100; #71: Final Fantasy II / NFC - Main Theme END-**

 **-Mega Man III (Gameboy) OST – Final Stage – Wily Marine Fortress START-**

"Alright. Ok gentleman and ladies, what we have discovered here is that this was actually a Forerunner Redoubt, during their time of primacy over the galaxy. It is made to be a fully functional, self-sufficient, and hardened facility. Everything a sizable army could need, is provided here, so they could wait out sieges that could technically overwhelm them, while awaiting relief in orbit." Anders changed the tables readouts, and began to bring up the holographic structure representation, denoting several areas.

"First it has a a hybrid power system, which is comprised of an unknown type of reactor, and a sort of energy-tap that is shown to be reaching Harvest's core. These two systems power enough features within this facility, that can support and repair it, keeping it in top shape." The hologram zoomed in showing the reactor, the geothermal tap going to the core, and retreating back to the base where it began to detail areas and their facilities.

"This, is a Von Neumann Generator, it produces the nanomachines that maintain this facility. Here, we have the central mess, where we found Food Replicators capable of producing food that they knew how make(luckily one of the AI's we brought had several recipes and could feed the molecular structure formulas into the devices). Barracks are throughout, and the facility has automated weapons throughout." The hologram showed a room where several bubbling grey masses were moving around in tanks. The mess hall showed soldiers walking up to the microwave-like machines, and pressing a few buttons, before it dinged and gave the recipient a roast turkey dinner with potatoes, vegetables, and gravy.

"Finally, the entire facility is capable of a form of teleportation, we've translated from some of the hieroglyphs to be understood as "Translocation". With this, we have been able to maintain coverage of the whole place, and keep a lockdown for this period, while scouting the Covenant from time to time." The reconnaissance team was surprised, the technology inside this place was _very_ advanced, startlingly so.

"How many of you are there?" Questioned Blue-1.

"Nearly 20,000 Infantry made it Blue-1. We were able to preserve many units in the hours proceeding Fleet Admiral Kerensky's retreat, but still lost nearly 40,000 getting here, saving around 322 Mech's, 431 Artillery pieces, and 369 Assault Tanks." Robinson counted off with his fingers, after he detailed their casualties.

"It's good that you maintained an effective force, even after losing 60% of your number, because you guys are going to be apart of the breakout attempt." Spoke OO1, as he stepped up and began to input new information into one of the table's terminals.

A hologram popped up, now designating the various areas of Harvest that held forces upon it, showing that the Covenant were trapped between the mountain and it's entrance to the Holy Forerunner structure.

"Here are our boys landing now. A _**Balor-Class**_ DropShip carrying 100,000 tonnes of troops, CAS-planes, tanks, guns, and mighty vessels of war." The ovoid _**Balor-Class**_ dropped in, settling into a depression.

"Your forces are here, and I've updated this map with their troop levels." Now, the mountain was showing two powered infantry divisions, alongside a few regiments of 'Mechs, armour, and artillery.

"As well, we have a powerful Aerospace strike-contingent that will be preceding the offensive, so we can remove their Air Force." 450 fighters of various weights were detailed in groupings in the sky, but with a note stating they would need notice to launch from the ships.

"Won't their anti-air just sweep them from the sky?" Asked OO2, and OO1 just shook his head.

"From what the Captain and Duke have ascertained, this contingent only really carries an anti-capital-ship type of weapon, which is rather slow compared to a fighter. The flyboys only need to worry about **not** flying through the guns trajectory of fire, and they will be fine." Agent-Leader stated.

"We would definitely want to join in destroying the Covenant's base here, but there is too much of value to leave behind, and we only have just begin to scratch the surface." Dr. Anders said, passion in her voice, not wanting to leave a treasure trove of tech like this.

"We understand that it would be remiss to leave this behind, unfortunately we don't have time to waste on getting the facility broken down, as we need to get the next set of coordinates from this place because we are charged with finding wherever this map is supposed to lead." Blue-3 stated, staring down the ONI Agent.

"Why is there a time-limit?" Asked Robinson, curious to know what other factors affected their situation.

"The Covenant fleet that guards this system, went on a routine fuel run, at least that is what was registered in their records on the BattleNet. Duke Maurya thinks it could be a trap." 005 replied.

"Ah. That is a little suspicious, I can see the need for concern. Well, Anders we can always lock the facility down, and make it auto-run itself until we can come back. That way if more Covenant come to this planet, it won't open for them." Robinson said, and rubbed his chin in thought, crossing his arms.

"What if they try to get in another way, bombard it with plasma from space, and bore their way in?" Blue-04 questioned.

"Not going to happen. From what we've been able to hack from the Covenant's BattleNet, they revere this place, and won't tolerate for a second, any damage to it. It's one of the main reasons why they only attack the front gate, because they know for a fact that it is the only way in without wrecking their temple." Forge said, having hacked their communications more than once. Heads nodded in ascent, agreeing upon the information, after all the Covenant were blatant zealots so it was unsurprising they went to great lengths to preserve any sites their "Gods" had visited.

"Well that's good to know." Robinson said, and Anders stepped up once more, ready to answer his earlier question.

"We can set it to lock-down. This place will never open for anything but a human, and we can get it to lock itself in a way that it won't allow anything to open it." Anders said, looking at James.

"Begin preparations immediately. I want the lockdown ready to slam into place, as soon as we exit." Anders nodded, and began to exit the room, going to the side of the door and disappearing with a yellow flash. Many of the team members noted this, but said nothing.

"Alright, notify the Captain and Duke to begin the assault, and we will get everyone gathered and ready to take out this side." Blue-1 and OO1 nodded, and were directed to terminals for communications.

"I thought you couldn't communicate out of here?" One of the OO's asked.

"No, we can but it alerts the Covenant every time, something to do with their systems similarity to the Forerunner ones. After we had a few teams ambushed outside the complex, we quit using the transmitters here, and nothing we have that's human-made can penetrate the structure. There is a bloody hell of a disruptive layer in these walls, only allowing their more advanced methods to be used. These things were extremely well constructed." James stated, as they walked together to the communications area.

"Won't they detect it now, then?" James smiled, before he explained.

"The Covenant are able to detect the to-and-from of these transmissions, because of their energy signature, they aren't able to understand what we are saying. That being said, we can send a transmission to the Fleet, because it is a known quantity to them." James said, while pointing at a console that brought up the images of the fleet.

"Ah." The OO replied.

"Locking onto their signal now Agent Robinson." Informed the technician working the station.

"Good. Get the Captains attention." Robinson said, while leaning forward and putting his hand on the desk.

Within a few seconds, the Captain's face had popped up, surprised at who was calling.

"Agent Robinson, it has been a while, how are you making this transmission?" The man asked immediately, a little confused as how the OO was doing this.

"We can worry about that later sir. Right now, as I've been informed, we need to launch our assault and get out of this system." James replied.

"Yes Agent Robinson, I have been warned by the Duke that we could have sprung a trap, are your forces ready to move in regard to the plan?" The Captain queried.

"Yes sir, we are currently grouping everyone at the gates entrance." James said, while sending him the pertinent information regarding their numbers. Cutter nodded, as he read them and listened to the OO.

"Good, I think you can just all fit onto the **_Balor_**. It's lift-capacity is 100,000 tonnes, just be careful and don't be afraid to ask for another DropShip. We will begin the Aerospace assault momentarily, get ready. Cutter out." The Captain replied, before signing off.

 **-Mega Man III (Gameboy) OST – Final Stage – Wily Marine Fortress END-**

 **-Doom OST – E1M1 – At Doom's Gate START-**

The Aerospace pilots rushed to board fighters, as klaxons in their bay sounded the scramble. Hundreds of men and women in each ship climbed into _**Thunderbirds**_ , _**Eagles**_ , _**Rapiers**_ , _**Goken**_ , and _**Stuka**_ fighters, getting their planes ready to fly immediately.

With a graceful series of movements, the fighters began to leave group by group, flying out of the hangar. The wings formed up, and began to join the others, coming from the various ships in the fleet.

" _Orange-leader, standing by."_

" _Blue-leader, standing by."_

" _Green-leader, standing by."_

 _Gold-leader, standing by."_

" _Black-leader, all ready, let's take these mothers down hard!"_

With that said, the Aerospace contingent accelerated towards the planet, and began to approach from the urban side. Keeping the planet between them and the guns, was preferable. Swiftly descending into the atmosphere, they shot over the cities decimated StarPort, heading towards the ocean.

Coming to the other side quickly, the fighters began arming everything, preparing for conflict.

Swarms of _**Seraphs**_ , _**Banshees**_ , and even the Covenant's DropShips the _**Spirits**_ and _**Phantoms**_ began lifting off to fight the incoming air armada. All rose up, becoming a swarm of their own that headed south of the base, and moved to intercept the enemy. Energy shields hummed on, plasma weapons warmed up, ready to cycle. Seraphs and Banshees rode at the fore, while the DropShips tried to obtain height enough to bring their weapons to bear upon the enemy, as they jockeyed for prime positioning to fire on the human forces.

" _Red-leader, Green-leader, take out those DropShips. Blue-leader, Gold-leader, with me to take out those fighters."_ Black-lead sent over the nanocomms. The fighter-wings split up, and accelerated to their targets.

Within moments, the two forces had sighted each other, 50 miles inland from the beach.

Lasers, PPC, autocannon, plasma, and missiles began to fill the sky.

The fighters began to scramble and dogfight, as they all manoeuvred harshly, weaving in and around each other as they all tried to attack at once. Bursts of fire tore throughout the air, searing armour when they struck, providing deadly hazard when they they did not. Missiles flew, splashing targets, leaving plumes of smoke all over and obscured the airspace. Autocannon rounds spattered against alien shields and alloy, weakening their energy, and ripping into nanofilaments.

The enemies plasma splashed all around, taking chunks of armour with it every time, eating into the human numbers. The more rapid-fire weapons of the _**Spirits**_ , and _**Phantoms**_ added considerable weight to the fight, but they were struggling to defend themselves as the Red and Green wings took them on. Protons lashed at their thick hulls, knocking them around, and sending discharge into their systems when hit.

Eventually, the humans began to wear out the enemy, as their interceptors were much more effective and powerful machines for their size. That, combined with their numbers, was proving to be too much for the Covenant's air contingent. They began to fall like hornets before a flamethrower, as the human fighters decimated them.

The _**Seraphs**_ put up the most resistance, their shields, size, and dual-linked rapid-fire plasma weapons proving themselves against the Exoatmospheric Fighters of humanity. It could take a fair beating from the standard weapons they had, and fired plenty of damaging bolts itself. Their pilots were apparently fearless themselves, and didn't balk at the odds they faced, as they watched the others taken down quickly.

 _ **Banshees**_ didn't have much ability to defend against their fighters, and except for a few surprising incidences where they unloaded a Green Energy blob and destroyed some _**Eagles**_ and _**Thunderhawks**_ , they were nearly ineffective in the battle. The DropShips, _**Spirits**_ and _**Phantoms**_ , had resisted the weapons-fire fairly well, but were so slow and inadequately armed that they were sitting ducks. Missiles took care of them, the pilots enjoying the slow-moving targets the vessels made, blowing them one by one out of the sky.

Soon, the Covenant air power was effectively annihilated, ending their combat-effectiveness in the airspace of **Harvest**. Not taking any chance, just as they were ordered, the fighters began to recede to space and return to their ships. No sense in testing the capital-class firepower their weapons had, and their missiles were expended from the battle.

 **-Doom OST – E1M1 – At Doom's Gate END-**

 **-Dr. Wily Stage – Mega Man 6 START-**

With a rumble, the ground contingent from the human DropShip began to advance, 24,000 power-armoured infanteers, 100 AssaultMech's, 100 AssaultTanks, 100 Artillery, and 100 CAS-planes. The Mech's charged with the tanks, and the group began forging their way to the mountain using the highway.

The Covenant, happened to have a few contingents of troops and armour, between the base and the humans landing site. Each of them opened fire as soon as they caught sight of their enemy, but none were large enough in size to do any serious damage, and a lot of the time the human army would just pause and blast them with artillery if they were too troublesome.

Rolling through the land, the Mech and Tank force finally beheld the beginning of the Covenant base, a fair ways down the highway. Jogging into a run, they charged their weapons, as the tanks prepared alpha-strikes. An awing sight, hundreds of Mechs charging down the road, with tanks all around them.

In an instant, energy began to sear through the air, belching from some type of energy-projector inside the base. Brilliant fuchsia-coloured plasma lanced through the air, targeting their 'Mech's, biting into any they touched. Chest, arms, and torso's were struck, as the weapons fired a continuous five-second burst.

Searing the armour plating, and cutting open more than one unlucky pilots metal epidermis, it wore down quite a few them. Getting hit in the sweet spot, 3 fell over dead, with their cockpit's hardened area run through by the plasma.

The human armies front ranks opened up, and calls for artillery were immediately sent for. A storm of weapons fire headed the way of the base, and a few explosions rang out, even as the blueish-white shimmer of the Covenant shields came on. Some buildings fell apart, and revealed defence emplacements clearly set up before them, shielded and smaller forms of the weapon that was on the _**Scarab**_.

Artillery crashed down, and began to hit the entryway, levelling the area. The few defence towers were immolated under the impact of compact explosives, incinerator rounds(Tri-ethyl-aluminium/magnesium), and flak. The emplacements broke apart , and were reduced to seared and broken piles of metal, crystal, glass and composite.

The first group of Mech's spilled into the base courtyard, and alongside their Tank compatriots, lashed out at anything sporting metallic purple.

It was at this point, that the gate to the Forerunner structure, began to open. The armour and walkers in the pathway, who were making for the bases front and the action, began to swivel and turn around slowly. Mech's began firing from the cave as soon as they could, getting a surprise barrage in, slicing into the enemy with laser, proton, and hypersonic ferric-uranium rounds.

Caught with their backs to them, the Covenant lost quite a few vehicles and walkers, as they absorbed the wave of firepower. Overwhelming their minimal armour, the enemies number blew apart under the weight of fire coming from the cave. With their numbers in disarray, the Covenant were not prepared for the Mech's and Tanks that surged from massive opening.

Artillery brought the furthest building under human fire, and began to wear their shields down, as the two forces began to press inwards so they could destroy the Anti-Air Guns. Mech's and Tanks were firing upon concentration of defence's, while the CAS-planes came in at a low altitude, and hovered while providing additional firepower to the battle.

Smaller weapon emplacements began to fire upon them, as they were made as an all-purpose defence, being able to target air units and ground units. They were firing continuously at everything right now, too many targets to count, not getting much of a chance to bring down their enemies. The Covenant Unggoy fought determinedly and ferociously here, and most of them were armoured with a maroon colour, and there were even a smattering of black and white clad ones.

Their defence's began to crumble, as the Mech's pressed further and further in, taking out more and more of the infrastructure. A group of them had begun attacking the first Capital-Class cannon they came upon, hitting it with dozens of emerald beams, hypersonic projectiles, and protons.

It's shields flared bright, for a time, and then began to flare before sparking and fading. Weapons fire poured upon it. The massive weapon began to buckle, as it was shredded bit by bit, groaning and sagging. The Mech's barrage began to prove to be too much, and it collapsed upon itself, before it's core began to glow green.

The Mech's began to back-off, taking leave of the area, and the gun blew itself sky-high. Unable to bleed off it's energy cycle buildup, the reactor's energy burst past it's pinch-field, and belched a plasmatic burst. With a massive **whumph** , the energy exploded outwards, decaying immediately while releasing fury. The dust began to clear, revealing a stories-tall, mushroom cloud.

Now knowing the guns were reactive, the Mech's and Tanks held their distance, and carefully attacked their targets from there on.

The destruction continued, with cannon falling one after another, as they eliminated the base bit by bit. Carrying out a thorough methodical sweep, with their weapons, the human army brought it all down. They scoured the area of alien life, and began to consolidate their hold, while the fleet begin preparing to send a second DropShip to pick them all up.

The DropShip came in fast, and landed just outside the mountain, where it settled on the remains of the base, crushing them.

Robinson ran his Mech down the hill, as he watched the DropShip begin it's landing procedures, and soon was on his way into the ships bay. Shutting the machine off quickly, he climbed out and down as fast as possible, and ran towards one of the lifts while still in full armour. Getting to the bridge quickly, he rushed out of the elevator.

"Why did your DropShip land? I thought we were supposed to make a trek over the countryside, and embark upon the other _**Balor**_?" The ships CO, a Commander, looked over at him before nodding and giving an answer.

"We began to launch, because the time it takes you to get there, the enemy will be all over this planet, and with a DropShip it would take longer to re-position then to just send another." The Commander stated, and turned back to his Sensor Operator, who was showing him the numbers embarking.

 _~Scene Change, 10 minutes ago~_

"The operations almost complete sir. Just a few more guns, and we'll be able to start retrieval with our DropShip." The executive operator reported to Captain Cutter.

Cutter watched over the next few minutes, as the double-envelopment caught the Covenant flatfooted, and took out their forces by confusing them the whole time as to where they were actually being attacked from. The cave opened at a completely inopportune moment, for the aliens at least, the Captain watched the reinforcements get cut to shreds just after they had finished re-positioning themselves.

Then, the defence lines began to fall, and cannon after cannon went with them.

"Uh sir, you might want to take a look at this." The sensor operator called Cutters attention over to his console.

" **A fleet of Covenant ships just arrived in-system. Hacking them now."** Serina stated, as she made an appearance, and brought up the image of the aliens.

The Covenant fleet composed of 5 3.5km CPV Heavy Destroyers, 3 10km CCS Battlecruisers, and 1 30 km CSO Supercarrier. The new standards of ship size had made their appearance around one year and a half ago, surprising the naval forces on humanities side. They had gotten over their shock quickly, as considering the Covenant could make ships the size of their Supercarrier and the Battleship that first appeared over Harvest, it was not a stretch to consider them making their other ship classes larger. If anything, it had standardized their fleet quite well, allowing the aliens to balance their naval contingents even better than before.

Cutter grimaced. With their stronger designs, his ships would need to vacate quickly.

"Send a DropShip down now! Inform the other Balor to lift off and begin it's return trip. Get the fighter-wings ready, and charge up the weapons. Load as many fusion weapons as possible." Cutter ordered rapidly, as he went over his fleet, and compared it to the opposition.

1 6km **_Phoenix Class_** Supercarrier. 4 3.8km **_Farragut-C_** Battleships.13 585m **_Tatsumaki_** Destroyers. With his destroyers he had an advantage, but they were 1/6 the size of their opposition, and he didn't think they would make much impact before being wrecked. However, here he couldn't be aggressive, and had to protect his assets.

Keeping the ships clustered near the planet, and using it to block the incoming fleet, Cutter was hoping to delay and ensure they couldn't bring their overwhelming advantage of Plasma-Beams into play... Before his weapons fired first.

A sound tactic.

The first DropShip returned and began the procedure of locking into the collar and clamps, and he counted the time second by second, as the second one began it's ascent to the ship.

The Covenant cruised in-system, as they tried to determine exactly where their adversaries were, at a loitering pace completely fearless in the belief of their might.

The second **_Balor_** DropShip made it safely back, and Cutter was conferencing the Captains, and determining a course of action for their flotilla. Between them all, the best option seemed to be leaving a set of fusion mines, and blowing them just as they transited to the next location via HyperJump. Cutter nodded in agreement, this would give them cover, and hopefully inflict some damage upon their enemy as they got the heck out of there.

"All right then, all ships begin placing the nuclear mines, charge your drives and we'll hopefully get a new set of coordinates I can relay in the next few minutes." Cutter ordered, as he awaited the arrival of the source of his coordinates, watching the fleet carry out their orders.

Ships began charging their JumpDrives, and launched a fair amount of missiles, trying to ring and section off their side of Harvest from approach 360°. Once they manoeuvred into place, the mines armed themselves, and engaged their cloaking and em-reduction suites. Set just past the horizon of where their calculations indicated the Covenant's possible approach vectors could come from, they formed a cordon around the human fleet.

 **-Dr. Wily Stage – Mega Man END-**

 **-Sonic 2 Music:Chemical Plant Zone START-**

"Agent James Robinson, Dr. Ellen Anders, Sgt. Major John Forge, and Team Ω reporting in." Cutter turned around, to find the party of six individual all present and saluting. Returning their salutes, he gestured for them to give him a brief report. After hearing some of what they had gone through, Cutter gestured him to stop, and asked if they had gotten the coordinates for the next planet.

"Yes sir, it was the first thing we cracked, in case the Fleet Admiral was able to muster a rescue-fleet, and came to relieve **Harvest**. That didn't happen, so we figured out how to turn on the rest of the facility." The Captain nodded, and motioned for Anders to come forward, and give Serina the coordinates for the next planet.

Dr. Anders did so, and soon Serina glowed as she sent messages to the various AI on the other ships, and began to get the JumpDrive ready.

The fleet began to accelerate, as the Covenant began to come into their range, and sensors lit up with notifications that they had been scanned. Also, there energy levels were spiking, indicating they were getting their weapons ready to blow them away.

It was now or never.

"Blow 'em to hell Serina!" Cutter growled and the AI nodded, as the fleet simultaneously opened windows to the higher-dimension of Hyperspace, as the mines began to detonate. Brilliant yellowish-gold explosions erupted in Harvest upper exosphere, blinding the enemy, and hoping to catch some errant ships in the process.

The blasts of expanding yet brilliant fusion-plasma, roared into action, blotting out everything in the Covenant's sight. 4 of their CPV destroyers got caught, but the Captain didn't get to see the results, as he felt the lurching sensation of Hyperspace transition. Whatever the results were of his attempted trap, he didn't get to see, as the fleet burst out of the Harvest system.

 _~Scene Change~_

Arbiter Xytan Jar Wattinree smiled, as only a Sangheili who had a foe in their claws could, as he watched the humans blow their devices up and leave the system.

"So the chase begins. Recorder, did you obtain their coordinates?" The Arbiter turned and peered at his mobile intelligence.

" **Yes. Their system was completely unable to read my entrance, and honestly I think they don't believe the Covenant have the ability to penetrate their networks. This aided me, and I was able to slide into one of their backdoors, and poach a copy of the coordinates."** The Arbiter nodded, and gestured for it to send the information to his navigation officer.

"Good work Recorder, I thank you for your aid in this conflict, you have been indispensable in my campaign." The device bobbed in mid-air, simulating an attempt at bowing.

" **It is an honour to aid you in your battles, Arbiter Wattinree."** The Arbiter caressed the case lightly, as he watched the silent majesty of atomic fury dissipate against the planets backdrop, while his ships prepared to jump to the next location.

"Make ready our ships, and prepare to jump and pursue the humans." Wattinree ordered, with the fleet complying, and regrouping closer together for ease of travel.

Xytan thought over his plan, and wondered for a moment if was making the right calculations, but everything had unfolded as he had wanted. The human fleet had gained intelligence of their vacancy in-system, and sent an expedition to retrieve their beleaguered forces. Having engineered the "scheduled fuelling", Xytan was planning on the humans taking this chance, so _he_ could gain access to the information they uncovered and retrieve wonders of the Forerunners for his race to use.

The humans took the bait, and sent a fair-sized fleet to gain their soldiers back, cleaning out those he had left to interfere with their progress while taking few casualties themselves. Grinning, he mused on how their "Greater Daemons" had proven an invaluable force against their numbers, taking out the base, and it's defences in minutes.

Even the addition of fixed weaponry that was modelled after the _**Scarabs**_ main gun, placed throughout the encampment, didn't stall their force for long. As well, their reserves were cut down easily, with the force emerging from the cave and wrecking the rear positions. The air contingent was cut down all too easy, and he could improvement would be needed with that, even with the Seraph's decent performance. That would be next on his agenda to improve.

Thousands of thoughts on the war flowing through his head Arbiter Xytan Jar Wattinree sat back, and watched as the familiar glow of slipspace was cut in front of the fleet, and enjoyed the view as they lurched towards the next destination.

He loved it when a plan came together.

 **-Sonic Music:Chemical Plant Zone END-**

 **BattleTech Wars:**

 **Part 2-**

 **Harvest III**

 _~End~_

 **AUTHOR NOTE:** Edited the chapters, eliminated repetitive words, and added more meat the dialogues and conflicts. Also, I encourage you all to listen to the music.

Someone talked about how nobody was going to read the codex, and how I should just work on chapters for the story.

Maybe it's not important for you, and honestly I don't care if 90% won't read it, it is not only my reference for whats in this story there is a lot in there that I won't get to for a long time. That is one of the reasons I made such a comprehensive timeline, I wanted to be able to work with many many many things, while marching through the ideas from fiction and my mind. I just love sharing the stuff I think up, and codex entries work quite well for summaries.

If you don't want to read it, that's fine, but that is also why it's in a separate chunk compared to the main segments.

It's not about someone being patient enough to read it all, there are many who will sit and read condensed segments of story, and I can't ever see a story without having it's worldly history inside when it matters to the core material. If people ask why this is in it, or why that's popping up, all answers are in the codex. I really don't mind if you don't read it though, the story moves on as I keep writing.

 **New Ship Standardization-** With this program being run by the Arbiter, as he continues to test and attack human worlds causing severe casualties, it is really just a reworking of existing designs and more efficient use of their ship-production. Xytan views this as one of the key-components of his long-term plan for the Sangheili race, and whether he's truly malicious or not, we shall see.

Anyway, that's it for me. Good night all, peace and positivity be with you.


	8. Chapter 8

**Mantle Across A Starry League**

 **Disclaimer** : I own no franchise or original content that appears within. They belong to their creator's, and owners.

 **Summary** : Megaverse. A grand vision, on how Mass Effect, and others will be affected by a humanity forged from the influences of 1980's-2000's Sci-Fi and such. Prepare for BattleMech's, Powered Armour's, Fusion, Energy Weapons, Psychics, Magics, and more. How will the Citadel and others deal with a humanity that has seen and has Cyborgs, Super-Soldiers, BattleMech's, WarShips, with more to come? First appearance of the Kuritan Super-Soldiers!

 **Chapter 8-BattleTech Wars:Part 2-Valasha I**

" _Honour is the inner garment of the Soul; the first thing put on by it with the flesh, and the last it layeth down at its separation from it."-Akhenaton_

 **-The One and Only(Mega Man X Opening Stage Remix)START-**

 **Draconis Combine**

 **Planet Valasha**

 **February 5** **th** **, 2431**

The combined human fleet emerged from the upper-dimension known as Hyperspace, discharging their electro-magnetic static, and beheld the system they had entered.

The system had 13 planets, and there was a lot of damage to several of them, apparently they had hosted outposts of some kind that attracted unwanted attention. As they cruised slowly towards the planet that was spitting out signals of all kinds, slowly the rest of the space became visible.

Two fleets were fighting it out in extreme upper atmosphere of the celestial body. The arriving fleet scrambled to get ID's on who they were, and ascertain their astrological position through a few hacks.

Covenant ships were identified on the outer side, around 30 of them. Facing them were vessels, which were soon shown up close to have a Red flag with a Black Dragon in a Black Circle, painted on their hulls.

They were in the territory of _**House Kurita**_ , and the Dragons of the **Draconis Combine**.

"Get a channel opened with those channels Lt, five minutes ago!" Ordered Cutter, as he gripped his armrest tightly, tense at having arrived into yet another battle. Considering they had just escaped an enemy fleet by the skin of their teeth, it was not pleasant to go from the frying pan into the fire, especially with considerable munitions already expended.

Grimacing, Cutter went over the available assets he had currently, thinking particularly about his naval capabilities. He had 150 Aerospace Fighters left, and more than a few Railcannon rounds, while his energy weapons were still operational. Missiles-tubes were dry, they were cleaned out.

"Not the best position to be in." He mused quietly to himself, while looking towards the planet.

 **"Sir, I have the Kuritan Commander on the channel, he is granting your request for a face-to-face immediately."** Serina popped from his armrest, throwing a screen from a staff, via the Holoprojector.

"Captain Cutter! I am surprised to see you here... Were you not leading the relief effort to the Davion planet of **Harvest**?" The armoured man on the screen asked rapidly.

"Yes, indeed I was. We were able to annihilate the Covenant on the planet, and gather those who survived the occupation, but we had to quickly come here because the fleet guarding the planet arrived back in-system just as we were preparing to evacuate everyone. After that, we quickly jumped out. Would you like our assistance?" The man was unreadable as Cutter talked, before nodding slightly.

"In the name of the Dragon, I Ryu Kurita accept your aid." Cutter's eyes widened slightly at that declaration, not expecting to run into the son of the Coordinator, here on the red-hot lines of frontier-space.

"Very well your highness, how many ships do you have at this time, and how are you faring against the Covenant?" Cutter asked quickly, hiding his reaction as best he could, planning a few different approaches to the situation. The Kurita looked to one side, and conversed quietly in Japanese with someone Cutter couldn't see, before turning back to face the screen.

"Right now, we have 49 ships, and we have lost nearly 20 already. The Covenant destroyed a fair bit of infrastructure on their way in, giving us time to marshal the navy, but even so they are proving tough targets to end even for my fleet." Ryu stated, while typing a few times, and Cutter saw that it was a data packet he had sent which popped up on his console.

" **Sir, they've got 5 3.5km** _ **Yamato-Class**_ **Battleships, 8 3.3km** _ **Musashi-Class**_ **Carriers, 8 1.9km** _ **Hideyoshi-Class**_ **Battlecruisers, 8 1.2km** _ **Yamamoto-Class**_ **Cruisers, and 20 750m** _ **Hanzo-Class**_ **Destroyers of two types. Their** _ **Hanzo's**_ **consist of either a Missile-Gunboat design, or one holding only one type of long-range capital-class energy weapons, capable of firepower that would give greater sized ships pause."** Serina read quickly.

"That is a decent organization. I'll never understand the fascination the Combine has with the 8-8-8 fleet formations, but it's a tradition they sure make work in their favour." Cutter mused, as he assessed the formations, appraising the spread out nature of the Kuritan fleet which prevented the Covenant from bringing the maximum abilities of their projectors into play.

" **Yes sir.** _ **Tai-shu**_ **Kurita has sent you a suggestion as well."** Serina brought up the young warlords message, which displayed Cutter's fleet going to the underside of Valasha, so they could catch the enemy between their respective ships.

" _When did his dad make him a Warlord?"_ Thought the Captain, while he went over the proposed idea.

"It will take our ships more than a few minutes to do so, are you able to hold them for long enough, so we can get into position?" The warlord nodded in his direction lightly, as he paid attention to the multiple things happening around him, as he barked orders in rapid Japanese.

" **Sir, he sent us information regarding their next missile strike. The Tai-shu is going to use electronic countermeasure missiles, so the Covenant's sensors will be completely blind to our approach."** Serina said, as she motioned and missile-paths were shown, with the warheads spamming hundreds of ghost-signals apiece. Cutter nodded, that was a good enough cover for them, they were going to catch the enemy with their pants down.

"Tell him we are engaging the course, and we'll be there as fast as we can." Serina nodded, as she sent a message, her avatars staff glowing brightly.

The ships began to comply with their new course of action, 1 6km _**Phoenix Class**_ Supercarrier, 4 3.8km _**Farragut-C**_ Battleships, and 13 585m _**Tatsumaki**_ Destroyers all heading for the planets southern pole.

"All ships, polarize and prepare for radiation flare." Cutter ordered, as the viewing devices that lit his screens up prepped for the uncomfortable feeling of overload, once they crossed the horizon and beheld the Valash Systems Sun. The sensors that were exposed, retreated into hardened domes, sealing each ship against the harsh blast they would get and ensuring the more delicate equipment would be protected before they got into position.

The Kuritan fleet was firing every weapon they had, in a massive furball with the aliens, with huge amounts of _**Seraphs**_ and _**Gokens**_ tearing each other apart.

Sapphire-blue bolts of ions and protons flashed through the void, as plasma was cast all over the place giving off their blueish-white flare, and the searing light of energy-projectors and human lasers flared between the two fleets. Packs of Destroyers and Cruisers took on their opposites, pouring their fire into singular targets, as the Missile-Destroyers did everything they could to blind and confuse the enemy with special munitions.

ECM Torpedoes, False-Signature Flare Missiles, and Echo Missiles all attempted to confuse the enemy. The ECM generated hundreds of cyberwarfare signals, and would ensnare sensor scans, bogging them down with virus and worms. The False-Signature ones would generate wakes of ships, confusing sensors as to where their targets were. Echo Missiles, the rarest and most expensive of the lot, would "throw" signals of ships all around while sitting stealthily behind it's own proprietary stealth system.

All in all, this not only blocked the Covenant's attempt at pinning down the human fleet, and it bypassed their attention that there was a second inbound group of 18 ships sneaking around the underside of the planet. Once their sensors were saturated in the bevy of mysterious signals, and replica-human ship drive-wakes, they ended up having to move closer so they could get actual targeting data. While a necessary move, as they couldn't target their enemy at the range they were at except by line-of-sight which really limited them while the humans could fire everything, it would ultimately spell their end.

The Kuritans fired their Railcannon, and pounded against the worn-down shields of their enemy, before dumping quite a bit of power into their power-reserves into the energy weapons they possessed. The Hanzo's lit up with beams of emerald power, concentrated on singular targets, from several of their number, bringing down several shields from destroyers as nearly 15 beams apiece hit them.

The _**CPV Heavy Destroyers**_ shields struggled, and ultimately failed under the strain, and they began to weather powerful gauss slugs, PPC fire, and the ridiculous Railguns humans had. Each of them were getting their Plasma-Projectors ready, not wasting their systems on torpedoes, and began to fire at the Destroyers harassing them.

17 of them in concert emitted beams of powerful, electromagnetically driven, super-heated gasses. Less dense than the more powerful lightspeed Energy-Projectors, their beam was like a more powerful version of a _**Scarabs**_ , washing the target with plasma. Hitting a couple _**Hanzo's**_ apiece, they held for 2.7 seconds before moving to their next target, ceasing fire after a full 9 second sustained burst.

The _**Hanzo's**_ were hit quite well the plasma having hit their front hulls, and then having them carve down the side before moving on, which did a broad score of damage. Armour plating fused, and became brittle under the intense effect, cracking and chipping from the crystallization effect of being exposed to star-level heat and the vacuum of space in rapid order. Some of them found that many of their weapons were inoperable on the sides hit, the machinery and supporting contraptions melted into lumps on the outer hulls.

The Cruisers fired their heavier weapons at this point, sending 75 tonne slugs at the aliens, trying to take out as many as they could. At .004% of lightspeed, they carved a brilliant silver path towards the other sides lines, ramming into the shield-less destroyers.

The three-and-a-half kilometre long ships shuddered, and rocked from the powerful super-dense rounds, those that were hit each feeling the impact as they were struck by the speeding projectiles. The rounds smashed into the ships, and dug in, before they were stopped. The armour their ships had was stronger than before, and now proved capable of preventing the worst damage that Railgun rounds were capable of, giving them a greater capability in space.

The other 5 _**CPV**_ Destroyers that were untouched, began firing on the Kuritan Cruisers, aiming to prevent more headhunting by their naval line. Their torpedoes fired, and everyone of them sent 8 plasma projectiles at the enemy Kuritans Cruisers, spreading out 5 of them onto each of their ships. Now having to worry about the incoming projectiles, the Cruisers became preoccupied once more, trying to destroy the incoming rounds before they devastated their ships.

The Covenant's Destroyers began to recharge their shields, and prepared to launch a second volley against the humans. The _**Hanzo's**_ re-consolidated, and began to stabilize their ships, trying to get a handle on the damage they had taken.

 _~At the same time~_

The Battlecruisers, Carrier, and Battleships of the Kuritans was facing off against their opposites, the _**CCS**_ Battlecruisers and one _**CAS**_ Assault Carrier. Huge amounts of Aerospace fighters teemed in their battle-space, doing runs on each of their ships, and fighting to prevent this on both sides. The Kuritan ships were constantly moving, trying to keep out of sight from the Energy-Projector of the Covenant Supercarrier, and using as many methods as they could to accomplish this.

The Destroyers missile tactic worked in their favour, in this case.

Triple-action Railcannon rounds lanced across the lines, leaving bright-silver wakes to the naked eye, smashing into the much more powerful shields of the bigger Covenant ships. Glowing when struck, there was no reaction beyond them beginning to spit torpedoes at the human ranks. Lasers and lightning bolts lashed out into the void, attempting to prevent their destructive paths, from making it to the Kuritan vessels.

The Covenant's larger vessels milled around, gracefully dodging the shots, but still taking a few blows from well-aimed gunnery. Each one was able to sustain the blows, and continued their advancement towards the human fleet, building up energy as they prepared to unleash their powerful projectors.

Their lines glowed, and a massive spread of torpedoes was launched at the Kuritan line. Aerospace fighters began to try and get close to them, while dodging and fighting with the Covenant _**Seraphs**_ , speed boosters engaging in an attempt to outpace their opposition. Their weapons opened up, sending medium-grade weapons fire the plasma projectiles, doing all sorts of manoeuvres to avoid the fire of the _**Seraphs**_.

The _**Gokens**_ rolled, dodged, spun, and even pulled cobra's, as they ducked the Covenant following and targeting them. The great manoeuvrability of this Aerospace fighter surpassed the capabilities of their enemy, and they made use of it to get clear of any fire that came at them, rocketing towards their destinations. The fighters came upon the torpedoes as contingents, and began to fire their lasers and PPC at the deadly projectiles, trying desperately to get them to falter before they reached their own vessels.

Missiles locked on to the pursuing _**Seraphs**_ , and launched, attempting to destroy them before they could interrupt what the _**Gokens**_ were trying to accomplish. With them being fired by the secondary operator in the Aerospace fighters, the Seraphs found themselves all beginning to run into accurately aimed, barrages of missiles.

LRM's fired in great multitudes, from the pods of the _**Gokens**_ , front and rear coordinating as the targeting solution ordered. The _**Seraphs**_ didn't try to avoid them, but rather rushed the cloud of guided projectiles, firing their twin plasma cannons as fast as possible. Using their shields, they tried to push through the swarm, before all the missiles could get closer. Attempting to ram through was probably a bad idea, but as they begin to prematurely detonate the incoming weapons, and reveal gaps in the line, they charged with even greater fervour pushing their whining engines to the extreme.

Riding the locations of the plasma torpedoes, the Kuritan fighters unloaded on the electromagnetically enveloped super-heated gases, doing all they could to bring them down. Bolt after bolt rained down upon them, with lasers stripping them bit by bit, shrinking the torpedoes as they travelled to their destination.

The _**Seraphs**_ caught up, and began to harass the fighters attempting to destroy their plasma, recharging their shields all the while. The _**Gokens**_ manoeuvred around the large capital-class projectiles, and struck out at the Covenant fighters. RAC-5's lashed out, hitting them with rapid fire slugs of super-dense ferric-uranium, spattering their hull-armour with metal.

The Seraphs broke off from close range, losing more than a few as they were unshielded at the time, putting distance between themselves and the shred-machine that was those cursed auto-guns.

Torpedo after torpedo began to burst and dissipate, leaving the Aerospace force free to re-engage their opposition, which they took too with relish, even as their enemies forms glowed and snapped fresh shields into place.

The Supercarrier on the Covenant side began to manoeuvre into better position, and prepared to fire it's energy-projector, while the Battlecruisers moved out of the way. The Kuritan ships moved to spread out, and performed pre-evasive manoeuvres, knowing exactly what the enemy could do with that weapon. They began directing their weapons fire singularly at the monster approaching them, but it's shield resisted quite a bit of fire, even with their Railcannon's barking repeatedly.

The ship began firing, picking one of the _**Yamato's**_ as its target, lightspeed fire lancing at it. The vessel was struck quickly, and its armour valiantly tried to hold off the power of the beam, but it punched throughout it, piercing all the way through the Battleships decks and out the back. Within moments, it exploded violently, and the glow of yellow-gold was visible from all other commands.

Firing a massive barrage of missiles, they violently tried to avenge their comrades.

 **-The One and Only(Mega Man X Opening Stage Remix)END-**

 _~With the Destroyers again~_

 **-Dr Wily's Castle – Mega Man 2 OST START-**

The _**Hanzo's**_ knew what was going on slightly above them, and fought hard against the Covenant's _**CPV's**_ , to get a chance to strike the Supercarrier with dozens of weapons now that it had entered the fight. The enemy destroyers stood in their way, shields having recharged, and loomed over them. With a rushing roar, the _**Hanzo's**_ and _**Yamamoto's**_ unleashed their missiles, and began to accelerate to knife-fighting distance, so they could surround the enemy.

The _**CPV's**_ focused on destroying as many missiles as they could, rerouting a significant portion of their energy to the pulse-lase defences. They couldn't do anything else while dedicating their shields and guns to this, and awaited the incoming ships, even as they struggled with the advancing missiles and blowing many of them out of the void.

The ships accelerated, and manoeuvred in close, bringing their vessels to less than a thousand metre's from each other. Their numbers gave quite a few targets to the enemy, and they tried to compensate by launching a torpedo-spread, but failed with the large energy weapons fire of the humans taking them down post-haste.

Now close enough, they began to fire as fast as possible into the enemy. Torpedoes lashed back, forcing the Kuritans to split their fire between the plasmatic projectiles, and the body of the enemy. Railcannon's lashed out, and punctured hulls, and in-turn received bursts of plasma-beams. The line began to weaken, as each side shredded the others ships.

The _**CPV's**_ struck out at the Cruisers primarily with their beams, trying to put them out action, and stop their Railcannon's from hitting their exposed hides when the shields were down. The plasma-beams lurched from their cannons maw, streaking across the void, even as they were struck by emerald beams of energy.

 _ **Yamamoto's**_ struggled to shed the beams powerful gaze, and spread the damage over their hulls, to prevent breaches. The accelerated super-heated gases flayed armour off the Cruisers, as they rocked under the intense fire, armour boiling off in great amounts. The dense and refractive structure of the plates heated rapidly, dissolving the bonds the metal held with each other, burning through the armour belt.

The _**Hanzo's**_ poured on weapons fire, taking it to the Covenant ships, but it wasn't enough to distract them as the **_CPV's_** continued doggedly towards their Cruisers while blasting them with energy.

 _~Simultaneously, again~_

As the destroyers struggled to add their weight to the capital engagement, the Carrier-Battleship-Battlecruiser group engaged in battle with the giant Covenant Supercarrier. The arrays of naval lasers, and PPC's on the _**Musashi's**_ began to concentrate fire on the approaching behemoth, painting its shields with emerald and sapphire energy. The _**Hideyoshi's**_ kept any attempts by the Covenant's CCS's stalled, blasting them with Railcannon rounds, and separating them from the Supercarrier. The _**Yamato's**_ fired repetitively at the accelerating ship, hammering at it's shields, which began to glow bright-blueish-silver.

The Human fighters kept any plasma torpedoes from reaching their side, as they fought and ripped apart each other, with the Covenant _**Seraphs**_. They skirted all over the place in large swarms, harassing the larger Covenant ships, and destroying their attacks while fighting their interceptors. Their vigilance in covering the enemies vessels was exceptional, and having learned the lessons of what to expect and avoid from the larger ships, they held onto a great life-expectancy in the battle-space.

The _**CCS's**_ accelerated forward, just as the Supercarriers energy-shield broke, exposing it to fire from the human side. They began to fire their plasma-beams, and wash the Kuritan ships in their fury, as the humans determinedly held target on the _**CAS**_. 12 Battlecruisers on the Covenant directed their beams over the ships firing at their flagship, even while taking fire from the humans own _**Hideyoshi's**_ , and pressed to take them out before the Supercarrier was destroyed.

The _**Hideyoshi's**_ fired furiously, as the undeterred _**CCS's**_ pushed through their fire, tanking rounds, lasers, and PPC as they drove to the human Battleships and Carriers. The Aerospace contingent joined in, but were begin driven away by determined pulse-laser batteries on the Covenant's Battlecruisers, thus not being effective at stopping the ships advance.

The wash of plasma struck the 8 Carriers and 4 Battleships evenly, driven plasmatic fury into them, stressing their hulls greatly as the Covenant bathed them in the suns fire. The great bulk of the Kuritan ships worked to prevent penetration, and shed the energy being directed at their frames, while trying to return fire by rotating and bringing more weapons to bear upon the enemy. The beams ceased, and they returned fire with what they had, launching a limited Alpha-Strike.

The human fire struck the Covenant's ships, straining and straining their shields, until they burst. Their Aerospace fighters began to attack, pulling diving runs on their ships, damaging their pulse-laser defences.

It was then that the Supercarrier fired again, the Energy-Projector searing across the void, puncturing a _**Musashi**_ Carrier and striking clean through. It dragged the projections, and smashed another _**Yamato**_ before shutting off. The two ships listed, and the _**Musashi**_ blew apart violently with a fusion explosion, the _**Yamato**_ trying to seal the decks it had lost.

The human position was certainly dire now.

 _~Perspective shift~_

Captain Cutter let no emotions show upon his face, as he kept updated on the battle going on, on the other side of the planet. The Kuritan fleet was losing, even as it did damage to the Covenant's ships, their weapons unable to put enough hurt on their ships to prevent them from losing the advantage of shielding. Even with their various advantages in fighters, and possessing the weapons needed to hurt the Covenant's ships, they were taking more damage than they could handle.

Not to mention, when the CAS class began to stop trying to get targeting data, and just accelerated towards their formation to start firing the Energy-Projector by line-of-sight.

Narrowing his brow, he thought about how much he hated that weapon, there were no ways to defend against it conventionally. A good naval commander must outmanoeuvre a more powerful opponent, and remove his advantages with misdirection and beguilement, or they wouldn't last against an enemy of sufficient strength.

His thoughts wandered to naval history, and thought about how the British must have felt when facing down the Spanish Armada, seeing their huge and more advanced ships of in the distance. They had stood their ground, and resolved to run circles around the enemy, while blasting holes of size in their vessels. Their naval tactics and training had proven superior, to the Spanish's size and technology, and at the end of the day, the Union Jack still flew over London.

Even if the Covenant was considerably different from the Spanish, they had similarities. Zealots of their religion, incapable of negotiation, they possessed overwhelming military power during their respective times. The Spanish may have been defeated by superior English naval tactics, and the speed of their ships, but it didn't look like it would be that simple with the Covenant.

 **-Dr Wily's Castle – Mega Man 2 OST END-**

 **-Golden Sun Battle Theme(Isaac) Guitar Cover START-**

Even as he pondered this, the _**SLDF**_ fleet completed their slingshot, burning hard as they began to spot the rears of the Covenant's line.

"FIRE EVERYTHING!" Cutter roared, and Serina nodded, the entire fleet thrumming with anticipation.

With a massive and brilliant display, the 18 ships fired, filling the void with an array of Railcannon, Emerald Lasers, and glowing globes of Protons. Each ship fired as fast as they could reload, pushing their capacitors and conductors to the limit.

 _ **Tatsumaki's**_ joined their larger brethren, catching the **_CPV's_** in a pincer, both human lines firing multitudes of energy and bracketing the Covenant ships with massed energy fire. The CPV's began to get overwhelmed, and even as they pressed an attack on the _**Yamamoto's**_ , they were buckling.

The frames began to strain, and flex under the bolts and beams, and slowly one by one their plasma-beams turned off. Even then, it took continuous fire to completely end their resistance. Once the last conduit darkened on each, they began to overload and detonate, their power-cores going critical.

The _**Spirit**_ joined their **_Farragut-C's_** in assaulting the rear of the capital ships the Covenant had, the Spirit launching their 150 Aerospace fighters and beginning to engage its PPC's, while the _**Farragut's**_ charged the capacitors for the Railcannon's. Having had to dedicate 100% of their systems to burning through the slingshot, they were not able to prepare their guns until they decelerated.

Rounds barked out from the Battleships, each hurling a 300-tonne slug at .004% lightspeed, as they started to charge their own energy weapons. Focused upon the _**CAS**_ Supercarrier, the rounds streaked through the void, leaving their translucent silver trails. They drove through space, as the **Star League** forces held their breath, hoping that they had been masked from detection enough by the chaos of battle and the missiles the Kuritans had launched.

With a violent lurch, they hammered home, rocking the massive 30km long Supercarrier.

The bridge's on various ships roared in happiness and triumph, as the Supercarrier began to break apart, unable to shed the kinetic power that had hit without their shields. The five rounds having smashed into it's rear segments, near-simultaneously between a few microseconds, sent a massive hydraulic shockwave throughout the hull from their immense energy transfer as the armour had tried to shed it.

Being completely overwhelmed, the rounds had been slowed for picoseconds, before continuing straight through the alien ship, which resulted in it's systems failing so completely that the reactor shut off instead of exploding. Even as the Covenant Supercarrier broke apart, the _**CCS's**_ began to red-line their ships, and rushed the Kuritan line in hopes of breaking it so they could remove this new enemy from their rear.

The _**Yamato's**_ fired without pause, rebuffing their attempts best as they could, with the **_Musashi's_** throwing their weight in even as their numbers began to explode. The _**Hideyoshi's**_ were destroyed by now unfortunately, having taken barrages of plasma-beams, and been reduced to space hulks. **_CCS's_** began to pop like fire-crackers however, when the _**Farragut's**_ and **_Spirit_** caught up to them, putting them in-between withering cross-fire and not giving a chance to overwhelm the human ships.

The _**CPV**_ destroyers fought hard, but were extinguished by the multitudes of ships that bracketed them now, caught in a metal vice.

"Contact Tai-shu Ryu, hopefully he survived the battle." Cutter nodded at Serina, as he began to receive casualty reports.

All the _**Yamato's**_ were lost, having been taken out by the beams and projectors. The _**Hideyoshi**_ Battlecruiser were destroyed when their armour failed from the prolonged battle between the heavyweights. All but one _**Yamamoto**_ were non-functioning, having lost combat-effectiveness facing the CPV's push, which took 16 _**Hanzo's**_ with them even when pinned by the reinforcements manoeuvre. 2 _**Musashi-Class**_ Carriers had pulled through, and one began to blink on tac-HUD's window, indicating a channel was requested for visual and audio.

 **-Golden Sun Battle Theme(Isaac) Guitar Cover END-**

"We thank you profusely for your aid Captain Cutter. We are indebted to you and your ships, as you have prevented the Covenant's destructive agenda from being wreaked upon one of my planets." The _**Tai-shu**_ bowed lightly, as he finished speaking.

Cutter bowed back politely, and began to speak.

"Did any Covenant land upon the planet?" The Kurita raised an eyebrow, before pausing and looking down at his console, and creasing his brow. With a frown emerging, he appeared to touch few things, then looked back up at the _**SLDF**_ Captain.

"There appears to be a large concentration, that has taken refuge in the forests on the equator of **Valasha** , whereupon they have erected several of their Anti-Capital-Ship weapons. How did you know they had landed?" The _**Tai-shu**_ peered at the Captain with interested eyes.

" **Sigh**. It's standard procedure for the Covenant to make a landing upon a world, when they either know, or have detected that Forerunner artifacts are upon it." Ryu's eyes and expression hardened immediately, not being too pleased that there was even more of reason for the aliens to target his realm and people.

"So, your expedition has come to **Valasha** in search of the Forerunners while the Covenant hunt for their artifacts already, upon the surface of a Draconis Combine worlds." He mused softly, as the Captain looked uncomfortable.

"Do not look so stressed Captain. Dealing with these artifacts is something humanity as a whole must get used to, it just happened to be in my fathers realm this time. I at least now know why they were here, rather than it just being a random assault whose purpose I cannot fathom. This information will aid the Dragon, in determining the best methods in keeping out these barbaric techno-zealots." The Kurita said in a passionate tone, motioning for James to remain calm.

"You will have to excuse James, Kurita-sama, the **Star League** has wound him tighter than a vintage Swiss timepiece. The Captain is always assessing and interpreting others speech patterns, and is on far too high of a guard, but maintains his sanity nonetheless." Duke Maurya joined the conversation, as he strode onto the bridge, and bowed before Ryu, one noble showing protocol to another who is of superior standing.

Ryu smirked lightly.

"I can see that. I however, want to ensure that we know of the cause pf this alarm is, and I am assigning some assets to your group so they can aid you in your search on the surface." Cutter frowned slightly, before nodding, as he couldn't resist the Kuritan-heir considering they were a part of the **Star League** and its army.

"That can be done. Who will you be sending?"

"An _**Arashikage**_ agent. Amongst other, more conventional forces." Ryu smiled smugly, as he watched both react with widened eyes. Besides having a legendary record in the field, Arashikage agents were incredibly competent and capable, failing missions only when it took their lives. As well...

 _ **Arashikage**_ and _**MI6**_ were fierce rivals.

Part of an undeclared war between the Davions and Kuritas/Von Rohrs for nearly 150 years, they had fought over everything, from boarders to technology to underworld source to secrets and everything in-between. In fact it was one of the reasons that the _**Arashikage**_ had not torn _**LOKI**_ apart during its days of aiding invasions by the **LC** of the **DC**.

Maurya hoped Robinson would play nice.

 _~Scene Change~_

 **-Rock Club Scott Pilgrim The Game Guitar Cover START-**

Agent James Robinson paused as he made his way through the forest. The _**Arashikage**_ agent should have been just up ahead, 1 minute ago. Checking his surroundings, the _**MI6**_ Agent surveyed his surroundings, bringing his enhanced modes online.

" _Thermals clean. Nothing on radar. MRI's not getting anything..."_ He thought, before whipping around and bringing his LA-23 up.

Standing there was non-plussed ninja, garbed in some sort of light armour, that encased his body.

"Greetings _**MI6**_ , in the name of the Dragon. I am to accompany you to the Forerunner ruins, so we may discover the aliens purpose here." Remaining motionless, the ninja said piece, before walking smoothly past the Agent. James rolled his eyes under the helmet, and shook his head lightly towards the sky.

"Wasting time shaking your head is not an efficient use of our mission-time." Came the ninjas voice from the foliage, and James began following.

"Got a name?" The Agent queried, as they made their way through the deep jungle, masking their presence by moving silently.

"I am known as Lightleg. What shall I call you?" The ninja replied immediately.

"OO3. Why Lightleg?" Robinson supplied, before his question in turn.

"I am fairly quick on my feet, and I was told I had extremely light legs, to be able to move quickly and silently." The ninja said, as they walked swiftly into the jungle, listening to their surroundings as they went and trying to determine where the disturbances were ergo locating the Covenant.

Sensors had done too good of a job at pinning all of the aliens forces down, only being able to pick up their larger weapons-systems, leaving the grunt work to gentleman like Lightleg and OO3.

A river opened up the brush a little, but the trees still blotted out the sky at this area, giving an inroad for the two to begin travelling down as encampments typically followed water which most living organisms needed to survive. Using this as their point-of-reference, they began to trek through the jungle, watching for signs of Covenant and ruins.

Beholding the lush beauty of Valasha, they observed hundreds of majestic giant trees and vines, life-filled brooks with all sorts of marine biology, and mixes of wild animals running around the local ecosystems. Vibrant, and thrumming with energy, the landscape was very beautiful.

Coming upon it's first mar, they discovered one of the Covenant's weapons around 3km's downstream, swarming with Unggoy and Kig'Yar.

"Showtime." Remarked James, as they both began to unfold and ready weaponry, discussing their strategy.

"I can charge in there, giving you all the time you need to get around their defence, and put your abilities to use." James suggested, as he prepared his pistol and several deadly looking knives.

"I agree with that. It shouldn't take long, your armour is far more ostentatious than mine, and is quite visible." Lightleg said, as he pulled out two compact **SMG's** , a pair of pistols and several melee weapons.

"Alright. My weapons fire is your signal. Cheerio." The OO replied, before both disappeared from the visible stream.

The Covenant camp was completely unaware that two predators were sneaking up upon it. Tense enough from the violent animals that attacked them as they set up camp, and angry at having to fight off the local wildlife, they were all just wanting the leaders to finish what they were doing and get the hell out of there.

Massive brown creatures had ripped apart their squads, large striped cats and others had outmatched their reflexes and paid with their lives, while others were savaged by tough-green-skinned creatures as they got water and dragged into the river. Worse, were the insects, and they all travelled in groups. The Covenant were miserable, upon the surface of **Valasha's** equator, and honestly just wanted each hour to end faster than the last. Not even having been on the planet for a day, this added considerable stress to their performance.

OO3 charged out of his location, charging a group of Unggoy fairly near to the foliage's heavy growth, scaring the shit out of them and causing their squad to run around in chaos and disarray. Opening fire with his under-slung PPC, the Agent began to target and vaporize the cowardly aliens, blue globes of protons and ions striking out at the enemy.

Unggoy masks and suits vaporized when struck by the energetic bolts, causing them to fly around, as their methane tanks explosively decompressed. Ripping through what armour they had, and burning their brains and nervous system from the discharge, the victims were already dead by the time they started mutilating themselves crashing into trees and such with the force of their tanks venting behind it.

James rushed forward, as his weapon began to bark 13.7mm rounds, hammering towards the enemy squads. Supersonic uranium accelerated at their forms, ripping apart the Unggoy it hit, their pistols firing off into the distance not having been able to get a bead on him fast enough before firing. Kig'Yar shields resisted more effectively, and soon a few globes of powerful plasma were coming his way, even as he sprinted towards them.

Readying the PPC once more, he began targeting the shield-wearing buggers, making sure to hit them enough to burn the devices out(about two-three shots per shield).

Suddenly, they began to drop like flies, from their rear-in.

As he got to the last Kig'Yar, it stood shakily before him, shield having failed holding a glowing overloaded pistol but not firing. Coming to a halt, Robinson just pointed behind the aliens head.

Nervously, it began looking slowly behind it, while keeping it's weapon on the OO. Right behind the alien, was the ninja. Surprise blossomed in it's eyes, and it jerked the pistol around.

SLASH

With no restraint, the ninja pulled a tanto out, and cut the aliens head off alongside the torso that was attached to the weapons in it's hand, causing it to go off into the sky as the alien fell to the ground in a bloody heap.

"That was quite bloody brutal." OO3 noted, as he turned away, and started walking down the path to the river.

"No less than they deserve for invading a world of the Dragon. The Arashikage ensure no one get away with violating our borders, as you well know." Lightleg spoke quietly, as they began their overland trek once more.

"I take it, that we didn't hide the bodies, because of some sort of need to let the buggers know they will die here?" Lightleg nodded to the OO's query.

"I prefer cleaning my tableau's up. You can cause a fairly similar effect, when you leave an encampment the enemy has just set up, completely messing with them and leaving their commanders wondering if they had actually set something up there." The ninja was silent for a few moments, before nodding in agreement.

"I see, such a way could cause more than just fear, it would elicit from all of their ranks including the officers. Dealing in confusion would allow you to overcome the more difficult and adroit leaders, as they wouldn't ever be able to find you because of the inconsistency in orders and actions within their own structure." The black-clad warrior replied.

"Just so, old bean! Different emotions are always useful, we just have to consider how to generate them. Manipulating the enemy is our craft, as we can only be super-effective, when we are an unknown quantity amidst the conventional troops." James answered, before he quieted, hearing a distant rustling. Each of the men immediately moved into the foliage.

Training the LA-23's auto-zoom sights downstream, Agent Robinson looked for any disturbances, searching for aliens. Failing to find any, he slung his rifle, turning to the ninja hidden across the stream. Making a few gestures, James indicated they should scale some trees, and hide themselves.

A thumbs-up hand poked out of some reeds.

James grinned behind his face-mask, before picking a suitable(and close by) tree, and quickly shimmying up it's bark. Careful to not mark the wood in any significant way, he climbed with speed and grace, ascending the tall dark and moss-covered surface. Being of a vigorous variety, _**Valasha Blackwood**_ was capable of being at least 3.5m's in radii, and supporting a tall and branching structure. Their many branches interlocked with each other, and made a heavy canopy over the **Valasha** equator.

For the most part they were undisturbed, the Kuritans respecting their surroundings more than most other human realms, and it remained a natural wonder of their colony.

Nestling himself in an obscured area, he sat and waited for the enemy to arrive. Within a minute, there were Kig'Yar and Unggoy moving out of the right banks brush, pointing their weapons all around as if they were searching for something.

" _We can let this patrol pass, and move on."_ He sent over the nanocomm to the ninja.

" _Negatory. They will come back this way eventually, and we will run into them again, its best to take care of it now."_ The ninja replied.

"Ok. I'll distract them with weapons fire, while you get in close." The Agent suggested, hoping the ninja hadn't already jumped into battle from his hiding place.

"Agreed." Robinson opened fire immediately, sending supersonic 13.7mm penetrators the Covenant's way, garnering their attention very quickly. As they ducked around his fire, each opened up with various weapons-systems. The staccato of plasma-fire filled the air, as they tried to kill whatever was shooting from the tree, before they got slaughtered by the fusillade coming at them from a high vantage-point.

With a silent leap, the _**Arashikage**_ burst from the foliage, perfectly to the rear of the Covenant's eyesight. Coming from fairly high up, he crouched in mid-air as he fell, the ninja kept himself coiled as a spring during the decent.

One of the grunts noticed a shadow flying across the squad. It began to turn it's head-

 **THWACK-CRUNCH**

Lightleg struck the alien from a harsh descending angle, smashing his foot into the skull of the unfortunate blighter, with the weight and momentum he carried propelling the creature into the ground underneath his foot. In a blindingly fast moment, it's skull was crushed, not even given time to scream.

The ninja was among them immediately. Dashing to one side, he grabbed a Kig'Yars wrist, twisted it and jammed the edge of it into the aliens beak. As it struggled in vain to prevent the implement from biting into it, the ninja slid a dagger into the avians spine. Turning, he let the dead body slide to the ground, and threw a variety of knives at the enemy squad.

Hitting dead on the mark, they buried themselves to their handles, in the skulls of Unggoy. Dead before they hit the ground, their comrades began to turn to confront the demon among them, firing haphazardly at the ninja as they tried to get a bead on him. The ninja ran circle's around them, darting in close and taking life after life, as they continued to take fire from the trees.

Dieing one by one, the Covenant didn't realize what was going on, until they were on the ground witnessing the last moments of their lives. The ninja kept their attention, taking out aliens as he darted around and among them, attacking them with that wicked sword of his.

With a soft thud, James jumped to the ground, and rejoined his ally.

"They are being quite vigilant. We must be close." The OO said in a serious voice, while kneeling and checking the rank of one of the Unggoy, as he peered in the direction they had arrived from. Standing, the Agent gestured for them to head through the bush, the Ninja nodding in agreement. Together, they stepped through and began the trek through the deep foliage 'ere watching for signs of the enemy.

James followed the tracks of the Covenant patrol as best he could, observing the rough handling of their surroundings, and kept them on a quick route into the deep jungle. The Ninja aided him, as the ever-observant warrior watched the terrain for broken branches and reeds, impressions in the ground along with flattened shrubbery, and damage to the _**Blackwood's**_ that would indicate their enemies path. They travelled swiftly into the tropical forest, at a rapid rate that saw them cover the enemies trail in a half-hour...

Arriving at a cliff overlooking a shrouded depression, where they could make out the ruins of a temple poking through the canopy.

Taking out a set of bino's, James knelt on one knee, setting an elbow upon his legs as he brought the ocular aide to his visor. Zooming in, he surveyed the area around the stone that was visible, searching for signs of a Covenant presence.

There was none.

Getting into a prone position, he stowed the bino's, and motioned for the _**Arashikage**_ to come to the cliff. Getting onto his belly, Lightleg joined him, before motioning him to speak and explain.

"There's no Covenant here. Despite the trail leading here, there is no base present, I suspect that they are keeping an eye on the place hence the patrol we ran into." James said, calculating the odds of what the enemy was trying to pull. The Ninja nodded, as he pointed to various areas.

"As well, my AID has shown, that after cross referencing the tracks we ran into... There have been several patrols to come and go from the area." The OO pointed at several overwatch and strategic points around the area.

"Yes, it is strange for them to not encircle and guard such a thing, given it's status in their beliefs." Lightleg said wisely, considering the reasons they would have to leave such a location open, knowing that the Covenant's reverence for their _"_ _Holy Forerunners"_ bordered on the most zealous he had ever seen.

"Quite. Trap?" The OO looked at the Kuritan.

"Trap. We need access to the ruin however, and will have to proceed, regardless what awaits us." The Ninja stated, with the Agent nodding along.

"Let's get to it then." The two backed up until there was enough of the cliff in the way, that they could stand without being noticed. Turning around, they both began to pull out a grappling device of a kind, from their gear.

Anchoring the lines to trees inside the foliage, they moved back the cliff-side. James noticed his opposite's line was far thinner.

"Can that thing support you?" The _**MI6**_ Agent asked curiously.

"Easily. A monofilament, twist-woven, multi-strand cord, this line could support something the size of you. What are you using?" The ninja looked over.

"Corded alloyed metal, forged in zero-gee, with enough flex and temper to pull a medium tank with." James held a length up, showing the thick bands of darkened metal, each woven from super-strong threads of steel alloy.

"Ah." The Ninja looked back. "Best to engage our camouflage now." With that short sentence, he disappeared, and his cord moved over the edge. James activated his systems, the Chameleon-Panels coming online, and instructed his AID to maintain the look of the cliff as he was descending. The coyote-armour soon turned shades of rock, and began mimicking the surrounding.

Moving down the cliff-side, he kept an eye out for sudden activity. The jungle teemed with life, and flocks of birds rustled about the canopy, even as insects buzzed from one area to another. None of them holding threat to the armoured humans, they didn't react to their presence, keeping their interactions minimal. The wildlife left them alone, even as they could sense a slight presence, as it was not hostile to them so they went about their usual activity.

Reaching the bottom of the cliff rapidly, they unsnapped their lines quickly, and continued with haste towards the temple. Now looming over their vision, and giving them a better view of how widespread it was, they could see that there were several portions as tall as the trees... With it being roughly a kilometre across from what they could see.

Closing in on the walls, they opened a nanocomm line to keep things silent, preparing to make their way into the temple.

" _It's fairly large. I am sure there are Covenant hiding within."_ James directed to Lightleg, as he began to creep through an archway.

"I agree. This place is far too large and advantageous to not use, even if you didn't bring any of your own equipment." The _**Arashikage**_ assessed.

The Ninja used the trees, and upper canopy, to climb over the courtyard and view the multiple monolithic stone towers. Jumping and running from tree to tree, he began to circle the temple, looking for enemies, and possibly a good entrance point.

" _I'll enter from the top, you come in through the ground level."_ Lightleg said to James, as the man leapt to one of the tallest towers from his perch in the trees, entering through a window and rolling.

"Roger that. See you inside."

 **-Rock Club Scott Pilgrim The Game Guitar Cover END-**

 **-The Legend of Zelda (NES) Dungeon Theme: 8-bit to Symphony START-**

As James began to canvas the building, he beheld at first plain stone, with statues here and there. Moving deeper, there were worn off inscriptions, but it was useless to try and understand their half-formed characters. James gave each careful once-overs, making sure his LA-23's camera caught everything, that could be sorted as useful later on.

Opening a heavy stone door, the OO beheld a small and quiet group of aliens. They were grouped about in an un-concentrated way, looking about nervously as each pointed their weapons in various directions.

With a shout, one of them gibbered, pointing an appendage at the slowly-opening door. Hoots of alarm rang out in the chamber, and immediately they all began firing upon the entrance.

Cursing, James ducked around the door, and turned off his camouflage system saving it for later. Readying his weapon, he kicked the second part of the door open, and charged into the room. Attracting plasma immediately, the warriors armour was caught with several score shots, even as he pulled a bead on the aliens in the room.

Roaring, the rapid-fire gauss weapon spat super-dense metal at the enemy, tearing at their positions and relieving the wall of chunks of material. James sprinted to the right of the entrance, and had to lash out with a few strikes from his legs, crushing bones and rib-cages of aliens in his way. The bodies flew out of the way, rocked by the sledgehammer blows meted upon their person, sailing through the air until stopped by their compatriots or the walls.

The aliens gibbered and chattered, trying to bring him down with weight of fire, hitting his armour up with several dozen splashes of plasma.

Signals blared on the micro-HUD, indicating he was losing resilience in certain sections, so he hastened to kill the occupants. One bright Unggoy decided it was a good idea, and lit up two plasma grenades in it's hand, charging the OO's position. James drew a bead on one of it's arms, as he changed direction, and sprinted left. Taking a shot, he blew one the aliens arms off, causing the grenade to fly into it's face from the mess.

Crying in terror, it forgot about the other _armed_ grenade in it's left hand, and in it's confusion ran straight into a wall before lowing apart in an actinic-blue flash. James' armour more damage, as he blasted their numbers down to nothing, keeping care to avoid any more adventurous ones by shooting them in the face when they paused to throw anything.

Within the moment, the room was cleared and silent, leaving the OO standing over their corpses.

" _Lightleg, we've got enemy contact, I just took out 10+ hostiles."_ He comm'd over the undetectable channel.

" _Understood."_ The Ninja replied.

Robinson moved further inwards, making his way through several maze-like areas, and having to ascend and descend various floors to get through the parts of the temple that made it time consuming to get to the central tower.

"Finally there." He mused silently to himself, as he gazed upon the central hall of the temple. A large and open area greeted him, with a balcony over-looking the stairs from four-sides of a hole in the floor. James looked up as he walked towards the stairs, noting they went up quite a ways, to where the light disappeared. Peering up, as he leaned over the balcony, he spotted nothing, so turned to look down.

Another set of stairs that went into the dark. Using the scope, the Agent looked down, scanning the levels.

"What do you see." Eyebrow twitching behind his helmet, the OO continued his visual assessment, trying not to react to the Ninja who snuck up on him.

"This may take us more than a few hours. Each level has a minimum of three doors that I can see, and whether those go somewhere or not, we don't have a choice in assessing them."

"Hmm. I'll radio **Kurita-sama** , and notify him of what we are going to be doing." The OO nodded at this, continuing to look through the stairs.

"Tell him to get the information to Captain Cutter as well, he'll want to know about our progress." The Ninja paused, before nodding.

"Very well.

 _~Scene Change~_

Captain Cutter raced to his bridge, having received notification that the Kurita Fleet Commander was requesting his presence, just finishing a meal at the mess hall. Sprinting into the command centre, he slid into his seat quickly, and slapped the console on. Serina sprang up, and put through the call.

"-tter, you there? Oh good, you picked up. Our team has made it to the Temple structure, but apparently encountered _unavoidable_ Covenant patrols along the way, stating that they had to kill many to make their way into the temple. They've found a central shaft, that has stairs going down further than their vision permits." Cutter nodded along, marking the various bits of information.

"I suggested they immediately begin searching, as we have no clue how much time we've got left before they return with another fleet, or the one pursuing you arrives." Cutter agreed, and began to voice his opinion.

"Yes, that is a sound plan. We don't know how many Covenant are on the planet, so we need to focus on reinforcing our positions, and repairing the damage we can." The Captain stated, with the Kurita nodding lightly at the end.

"I think that is wisest. Once we have enough of a force reinforcing the inhabited Arcopolis', we can take the fight to them. All options are being considered to repair and bolster our fleet." Ryu looked knowingly at the Captain, who nodded in agreement.

"Alright, I'll begin tasking my troops to land and build fortifications." The Kurita bowed lightly to the _**SLDF**_ Captain, and cut the channel shortly thereafter.

The _**SLDF**_ and _**DCMS**_ ships sprang into action. Most began releasing DropShip tugs to clean and collect the debris of the battle-space, while others sent some to the surface. The fleets moved about, launching their contingents, and beginning requests for supplies, rearmament and refuelling for their forces.

Fighters departed their ship-berth hangers, flying through the atmosphere en masse, and landing at every available bit of space at the local StarPort. Hundreds of technicians and engineers attended to them immediately, bringing out reloads, equipment replacement, and freshly stacked plates of armour.

Tanks of condensed water were brought out, feeding into the Aerospace fighters reactor reserves. Their stressed and cracked armour plates were replaced, new ones fit snugly into the areas that had theirs removed, and were heat-treated by a laser which sealed them in place and maintained an aerodynamic shape with the rest of the hull.

The DropShips landed, choosing large clear parks, and various areas the Kuritan's had cleared for them. The forces from each contingent deployed, and began to set up cordons and defences, while preparing the citizenry for evacuation. Tanks sat vehicle parking spaces keeping a watchful eye upon the avenues. BattleMech's stood at street corners, surveying junctions and manifold-accessible streets. Powered armour troops searched buildings, evacuating citizens, and building emplacements. VTOLS as they were repaired, began to bring the people to the StarPort bit by bit, as they waited to be evacuated in case the aliens came back.

 **8** **th** **February, 2531**

4 days went by, and the humans prepared well during this time. Most the 2 million citizens of were gathered around the StarPort now, and the Aerospace contingents were fully repaired, loaded and fuelled. Significant forces were seeded throughout the city, defending it and the DropShips that would be responsible for getting their sorry butts off planet.

The two agents discovered and explored the Temple's depths, cataloguing everything they saw via recordings, had descended 30 stories into the ground now while checking the levels thoroughly.

The human forces had sent out armoured spears, and destroyed the Covenant's Anti-Capitalship guns, removing the hazard of being near the planet for their ships. Battle's had been fierce, each area guarded by a Turret-Projector.

" _ **Tai-shu**_! We have detected an incoming Slipspace signal!" A Kuritan sensor-operator reported loudly for his leader to hear. Ryu nodded, motioning his AI to throw it onscreen, for him to see.

" **We have detected 10 WarShips at the furthest reaches. They appear to be holding, as if they are waiting for something..." Kappa** stated, dressed like an old Buddhist priest.

"Open a channel to them. And send the signal." Ryu stated, and Kappa turned to look at him, confused but sending a message anyway.

" **What is the purpose of doing that, they don't have a care for what have to say."** The AI asked, raising an distinguished digital eyebrow, with his arms together.

"I am going to raise our moral by yelling vitriol on them in front of my soldiers." Ryu said while smirking, and the AI creased it's brow, then just muttered while looking away.

" **Whatever you feel is best Kurita-sama."** The AI simply thought it was best to leave the heir-in-waiting be, and have his fun, while concentrating on other work.

"To you Covenant, who are without all honour, I say this. Welcome to the Draconis Combine, you pack of child-murdering, wife-burning scum, we will await you with steel and fire to pay back the human lives you have so relished in taking. Enjoy what little of your honour-less lives remain, as you will die upon **Valasha** like worms before The Dragon!" The Kurita snarled and stated at the holoscreen, playing the role of furious and angry ruler, one bound by their honour and vows.

"You will find that there is no easy prey here." Narrowing his eyes, he stared at the darkened visual that had begun receiving his call.

A bit of movement caught his attention, and soon he received a gravelly and choppy translation back.

" **You do not know of what you speak of human, and know nothing of honour, as it is you are trembling and posturing. We honour our gods by destroying you and your kind, who dare to tread upon their hallowed grounds. Blustering and shouting threats will not stop me."** Stated the dark figure upon his throne.

Ryu smiled slightly.

"It is just like those who pretend they have honour, to spout threats, excuses and rhetoric as a reason to commit crimes. I cannot take you seriously, you who does not even understand the concept of honour!" The Kurita bit out scathingly.

At that moment, a Kuritan flee jumped in at the Lagrange Jump-Point, bringing reinforcement for the coming battle and to hopefully be enough to drive away the enemy or kill them all. The fleet sent out signals immediately, notifying everyone they were there, and making their way to the planet.

" **No matter who comes to your aid, it is inevitable that you will be destroyed, it doesn't matter how many ships you put in my way. Prepare to die."** The channel closed, and soon Ryu's sensor-operator began reporting more ships dropping out of Slipspace.

"New contacts!, 1, 3, 7, 15, 28 new contacts Kurita-sama!" The officer reported to him, as a holoscreen brought up a view of the enemy numbers, showing the arrive real-time through the mesmerizing portal colours of Slipspace.

"Get the reinforcement here now, and tell everyone to prepare for battle, alert all stations and commands." Ryu said, before turning to a screen that showed their ships, and the enemy.

This was going to be a close one by his accounts.

 **-The Legend of Zelda (NES) Dungeon Theme: 8-bit to Symphony END-**

 **BattleTech Wars**

 **Part 2**

 **Valasha I**

 _~End~_

 **AUTHOR NOTE:** Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I'll try and pay more attention to your comments from here on, try and get a comment-reply section going here.

" **Buffed" Covenant:** I have not buffed the Covenant. I will say this again, I have **NOT** buffed the Covenant. When it comes to this issue, I don't and won't see it as such, since I view them capable of reworking their designs to this level. Why? They built a station twice the size of the Deathstar, without the exotic power of Hypermatter, their civilization and Industry is capable of quite a bit. Even if they didn't power most of _High-Charity_ with their own systems, their are just certain things you _CANNOT BUILD_ if you don't have a certain level of materials sciences. Therefore, if they can build things like the _Unyielding Hierophant_ (whose illustration shows supercarriers as freaking ANTS in comparison).

With someone like Xytan at the helm, there is no way they won't be competently led in this war.

 **Reapers, Citadel, Mass Effect:** No, they will not be inconsequential once we arrive there, I already have quite a few ideas as to what will be going on. One of the things I hinted at in the Codex, was they will get to explore the Stargate Network with the Star League, putting the stories of those two side-by-side. I think it will be very interesting to have the various Citadel and Mass Effect personnel have fun with my futuristic SGC.

 **Koprulu, Triangullum, and Pegasus:** I don't want to give too much away here. Safe to say that Pegasus actually concludes before the expedition to Triangullum is launched. Koprulu, again, will be dealt with by the _Shadowrun_ -like polities of the Megacorps. If you have never heard of Shadowrun, go look it up, it's complex but a lot of fun for an RPG(and the book one is superior to the videogame).

Thank you, peace and positivity be with y'all.


	9. Chapter 9

**Mantle Across A Starry League**

 **Disclaimer** : I own no franchise or original content that appears within. They belong to their creator's, and owners.

 **Summary** : Megaverse. A grand vision, on how Mass Effect, and others will be affected by a humanity forged from the influences of 1980's-2000's Sci-Fi and such. Prepare for BattleMech's, Powered Armour's, Fusion, Energy Weapons, Psychics, Magics, and more. How will the Citadel and others deal with a humanity that has seen and has Cyborgs, Super-Soldiers, BattleMech's, WarShips, with more to come?

 **Chapter 9-BattleTech Wars:Part 2-Valasha II**

" _Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any fried, oppose any fore to assure the survival and the success of liberty."-John F. Kennedy_

 **-Castlevania II: Simon's Quest / NES – Bloody Tears START-**

 **9** **th** **February**

 **Draconis Combine**

 **Planet Valasha**

Xytan Jar Wattinree gazed at the readouts in his command centre, seated comfortably on his throne, ever-observant on the movements being made by both sides. Resting his helmeted jaws upon a fist, the Arbiter was aware of all that transpired, keeping a keen eye on the developing situation. Gesturing to a subordinate, he sent them to perform an assigned task, and then sat back upon the majestic station, turning to his artificial helper.

"What do you think of their reactions and statements Recorder? Is there merit to there bark, or are they all Yan'me droppings?" The imposing Sangheili queried his companion. The artificial construct bobbed, emitting a few lights, before answering.

" **They may believe themselves capable of winning. If their commander, this 'Kurita', is worth anything he will provide significant opposition with his ships and probably try several naval strategies upon our fleet."** It replied with certainty. Xytan nodded.

"Yes. That ones eyes held a kind will I have rarely come across. He will provide an interesting challenge, one can only hope. The human was certainly brave to call me honour-less, given I can easily make my assault here far harsher, and sweep aside his ships in an instant." The Arbiter said dryly, contemplating the message he had received.

" **He couldn't have known YOU were on the ship Arbiter. The humans have no clue as to whether your kind exists yet, as they are not addressed upon the BattleNet, so I can only say that the human holds honour as a concept close to its heart."** The artificial lifeform assessed.

"Why do you say that?" Asked the Sangheili curiously.

" **He mentioned it no less than three times, it seemed to be the central focus of the message, and he attacked your idea of the concept immediately when you mentioned it."** The Recorder stated with surety.

Xytan turned and looked into the distance of space on the screens.

"It takes a considerable amount of my mind to discount the humans as anything but filthy creatures. However, your argument makes sense, excepting one thing." The Arbiter said, before turning back to his companion.

"The expression on his face slipped, once or twice, into completely different emotion... Ones which I have come to associate with smugness, and anticipation. Having studied many species and opponents, from many perspectives, alongside many interrogations... I know when someone is straining to mask their true feelings." Xytan stated, and Recorder bobbed, before looking at the screens himself and replaying the message a few times.

"You are right. It happens only twice, for scant seconds, before his face tightens back into anger and rage. Hm. What is he trying to hide?" The AI speculated, as it accepted the Arbiters wisdom.

"They were hiding... This." Xytan said slowly as he brought up a Forerunner Temple, displaying it from purple crystalline armrest, the motes of light forming quickly into a sizable shape. Covenant troops were shown in various place, giving a good sense of scale to both of them, as they looked upon the ancient place of their Gods.

" **You received an update on the situation that I was unaware of. That hardly makes my assessment complete."** Xytan gazed at his AI with a feral grin.

"I enjoy winning, even in conversations." Recorder blinked red and blue rapidly, before bobbing.

" **I see. I will have to make more of a challenge for you in the future."** The AI said with a hint of challenge in it's voice. Xytan's grin got wider.

"I am hoping so. You may have ideas I do not, but I am very good at using what I know and see. Besides, I enjoy our conversations when I know you have more brainpower than I ever could, as it is a challenge to outsmart you." The Recorder blinked blue, several dozen times in the next few seconds, before bobbing lightly.

" **Hm. I think I do enjoy these conversations as well. I believe I am getting more adept, at keeping apace with your manner and strategy, which are more advanced patterns than I originally thought. I understand your reasoning for needing me. What will be our first move?"** The construct asked of him, as it turned to stare at the Temple's projection, fixing an ocular upon it.

"You will see." Xytan turned to one of the Majors in charge, motioned a claw for him to complete an action, whereupon the Sangheili turned and started talking into his set and inputting several commands into his console.

With a sense of weightlessness, the Covenant's fleet jumped into Slipspace, and emerged within a few seconds from the vibrant blue realm.

" **Ah. You are going to attempt to make a beachhead that can strike at both the Temple, and their cities, with it's vast landing areas."** The AI observed, as it saw the segment of land where the Arbiter wanted to land, fairly close to the equator.

"Just so. Begin landing procedures, and order the soldiers to embark immediately, I want them off this ship 5 minutes ago." The Arbiter ordered gruffly, as he observed the view-screens, paying little attention to his commanders. They in turn began sending orders throughout the ship and fleet, even as the Covenant began to enter the atmosphere of **Valasha**.

The atmosphere buffeted the ships as they came down upon the hapless planet, friction flaring their shields as oxygen and other elements lit up when the Covenant plowed through. Their hulls warmed slightly, as the shields struggled to shed the significant heat energy pressing against their fore deck portions.

However, it was over momentarily, as the ships burst through the lower atmosphere and began to land quickly. Crushing whatever brush their was, the Covenant found themselves in a marshy area, where there was not a lot of visible land. No one grumbled or complained, as the entire expedition and force would be mechanized, and able of standing above any depth the swamp held hidden in it's depths. Gravity wells lit up, and the Covenant legions began to descend to the surface of Valasha, intent upon gaining access to the Forerunner Temple while annihilating the Human army and people that were present.

 _ **Wraiths**_ , **_Locusts_** , _**Ghosts**_ , **_Spectres_** , and the occasional _**Scarab**_ , poured forth in a continuous stream, starting to spread out and moving as fast as possible to deploy. Half of the air contingent they carried began to scramble and exit their hangars, all of the transport-craft going with them, bringing as many soldiers as they could with them.

The ranks were quiet aboard the _**Phantoms**_ , and **_Spirits_** , as the assembled Kig'Yar and Unggoy prepared for their missions. The black armour they all wore, indicated they held the highest combat ranks their races could attain, those of the _**Special Operations**_. Knowing the Arbiter was counting on them, they would take their enemies apart with plasma, fuel-rod, and needler fire.

Finally, the grav-wells ceased operations, and the fleet began to immediately climb through the atmosphere. The ships made for outer space, and their sub-light drives strained hard, as they pushed the limit on accelerating out of the planets hold. The glow of their engines bright among the clouds and atmosphere of a sunset, they reflected off the various chemical concentrations inhabiting the air, and produced a blue, distorted, and mesmerizing optical effect.

Making it out of the gravity, they once more grouped up before beginning to slowly glow. Once more, a portal to the realm known as Slipspace opened, and they advanced through. Disappearing one-by-one, the portal collapsed behind them, before a similar one appeared just outside the human fleets confused presence.

" **Excellently done Arbiter. They probably can't believe in what we just performed with Slipspace, right before them."** The Recorder droned, as the Arbiter nodded.

"Oh yes. It was something that took considerable effort, but since we understand Slipspace to the extent we do, we did not need to make our drives go further but simply be able to handle more transits in a short amount of time." The Recorder blinked with several lights, and turned once more to the screen.

"I take it, that you do not wish for my help in the coming battle, and want to conduct it yourself?" It asked.

"Yes. I do wish for you to stay at my side however, in case something happens, and I need to call upon your capacities." The AI brightened it's ocular at the statement, before settling into an alcove upon it's masters throne.

The Covenant fleet began to move forward to engage the humans, launching torpedo-spreads and _**Seraph**_ fighters, getting Energy-Projectors ready to fire.

 _~Perspective shift~_

The humans had moved in disarray in the last few minutes, as they had witnessed the Covenant slipspace to the planets opposite side, and had all turned and began to burn their fusion-drives towards the equatorial side of **Valasha**. As the Covenant had landed troops, the humans pushed hard for the planet. Once they got within range, the Human Fleet launched their fighter screen, thinking that they had the aliens now.

So, it was of immense surprise to them, when the Covvies entered Slipspace _again_. Exiting at the extreme rear of their engagement capabilities, the humans were wide-eyed as the Covenant began to fire immediately and charge their weapons.

"How did they do that?" Ryu questioned his AI companion. Ansui looked surprised as well, opening a digital scroll, and watching thousands of signals play upon it.

"I am not 100% sure Kurita-sama. I would probably say that just like their larger ships, they have expanded the capability of their Slipspace, given the obvious actions we have witnessed." Ansui pulled up footage from cloaked satellites that showed the Covenant exiting Slipspace on the planets opposite side, and begin accelerating immediately. Once that happened, the AI switched to the rear cameras, and showed the dishonourable rabble charge their weapons right away when they emerged from the brilliant blue of the upper-dimensions.

" **See honoured-one, they didn't lose any power at all when they jumped, and demonstrated they were capable of arming weapons as soon as they exit Slipspace. Something we did not think they could do, as we have only begun theorizing that as well."** Ryu nodded, as Ansui showed him the close-ups of various tagged portions of the pictures.

"Get our ships in formation as best as you can, recall half the Aerospace force, and alert the forces on the ground that don't know yet." Ryu stated in rapid-fashion, trying to cover his bases, and getting his mind to think on how he was going to beat the Covenant.

57 Human ships against 38 Covenant.

They had brought a larger contingent of Battleships instead in the 8-8-8 formation while bringing a large number of Battlecruisers to back up the Destroyers his time around, having brought far more _**Hanzo's**_ then before, as they were infinitely useful against the enemy. 8 3.3km **_Yamato's_** , 8 3.3km _**Musashi's**_ , 8 1.8km **_Yamamoto's_** , 9 1.9km _**Hideyoshi's**_ , and 22 750m **_Hanzo's_**. Ryu glanced at the enemy formation. They were using 1 30km _**CSO**_ Supercarrier, 4 **_BB_** Battleships, 13 5km _**CCS**_ Battlecruisers, and 20 3.5km **_CPV_** Destroyers.

Ryu certainly hoped he could combat their number of ships with his more balanced capital group.

The ships completed their evasive turn, and started to acquire firing solutions as torpedoes came into range, and they sent orders to the fighters to begin runs upon ships. Their fleet began to come alight, NL55's and others flashing across the void, NPPC's charging and emitting their proton/ion death as the Covenants began to shimmer from hits.

The torpedoes took damage from the capital-class laser fire, stripping material away from their rounds as they carved a path to the human fleet, maintaining the tight-electric field that kept them cohesive. Arcing and weaving they looked like some artists conception of a cosmic energy-shark(of a sort) in space, chasing and hunting after their enemy.

Fighters began making it to the field of battle, as destroyers and battlecruisers took up their places, screaming past their larger brethren.

The human _**Yamamoto's**_ began to belch slugs at 0.004% lightspeed, sending their 300-tonne superdense slugs at the enemy, while targeting the torpedoes with their energy weapons-systems. Each scored direct hits, and slammed into their opponents with massive force, forcing their shields to flare blueish-silver as they directed significant amounts of power to the straining emitters.

 _ **CPV's**_ , **_BB's_** , and _**CCS's**_ all began firing their plasma-beams, striking out at the enemy, and the battle was joined.

 **-Castlevania II: Simon's Quest / NES – Bloody Tears END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Mega Man III – Spark Man Theme (remix) START-**

" _-binson, are you there? Robinson, are you receiving this transmission?"_ The Agent took a second and paused, looking from the examination of an ancient console to his wrist, before tapping his helmet lightly.

"I can hear you, just a little choppy reception this far down, what is it Captain?" Hearing Cutters voice in the transmission clued him into who was radioing him, now he needed to hear the why.

" _There's an entire Covenant army headed your way Agent, get your_ _ **Arashikage**_ _friend and get out of there!"_ The Agent looked up, and glanced over at the Ninja present, and jerked his head.

Lightleg walked over, having heard him talking, and he wanted an update himself.

"Why hasn't the ground forces we dropped on **Valash** engaged yet?" He asked as they shut down the systems and began to exit the room.

" _They landed their whole fleet, and deployed two army concentrations to face us, one for the Temple and one for the Cities."_ Robinson looked at the Ninja, and he nodded.

"Very well sir, we'll do our best to make it out of here. Godspeed." The Captain nodded, and winked out of existence, his hologram dissipating into motes of blue light.

"You realize they are going to be in such groups, that even I am unsure as to our capacity to survive here."

" **OO3 is right. I am reading at least 10,000 incoming vehicles, and they will be here within the hour."** The Agents AI OO7 popped up, and added his opinion and information to the mix. The Ninja nodded.

"It is clear that we mustn't get caught down here, or we will be swamped in their numbers. If we can get up the stairs, we will stand a chance." The _**Arashikage**_ assessed, as he pointed to the light dimly visible up the staircase.

"Race you." Spoke the Agent, before sprinting for the shafts steps.

The Ninja smirked underneath his mask, before leaping onto the balcony outside, and leaping from wall to wall up the ascending way.

For nearly half an hour they remained like this, pushing their endurance, as they strained to get out of the complex in time. It was only then that they began to run into the enemy.

Plasma began to spray their positions from the higher gallery, indicating that the gatecrashers were present and accounted for. Keeping up their pace and position, the two began to draw weapons, and prepared to rush the enemy.

Charging throughout the stairs, James turned a corner on a landing, and beheld the packed hallway. Bringing his _**Walther GG7**_ (Gauss Gun-7) up into a tight and close line-of sight grip, he began to unleash high-velocity slugs at the opposition. Supersonic, super-dense slugs flew through the air, blasting apart Unggoy armour in sizable pieces and spraying their orangeish ichor-like blood upon the areas stone surfaces.

The enemy returned fire as they spotted him, and took casualties. Flurries of plasma accelerated from the barrels of the Covenant's weapons, super-heated gases compressed to plasma, pocking the walls of his surroundings with poorly aimed fire. James continued to fire, seeking out the ones who were quickest on the trigger, gauss pistol hammering rounds into the squat aliens. Even they rushed towards him, the Agent was sprinting to _their_ position without stopping.

Firing and taking a Kig'Yars shield-hand off, Agent Robinson snapped a kick out, breaking the neck of an unfortunate Unggoy target. Grabbing the skull of one as he continued to run up the hall, he threw it bodily into the group, shooting the methane tanks it possessed while the bugger was airborne. With a bang, and a spray of clouding methane, the alien became a thrashing projectile amongst his kin.

Clocking a beak-face across it's... Well, beak, the OO charged for the next round in the stairs, and dropped a plasma grenade he had purloined during the Unggoy's flight-time. A flash of plasma washed around the stairs, even as he heard the screams of the dieing, at the sound of the plasma devices activation.

Lightleg leapt from stone to stone, keeping steady and maintaining balance by paying close attention to the bumps and crevices. Throwing a dagger, he tagger Covenant that were visible, before throwing a handful of mono-molecular shuriken at them as he leapt to the next position.

They flew through the air with a whistle, deadly alloyed blades spinning like high-speed grinder wheels. Reaching their targets, they cut into them with little effort, their mono-molecular blades slicing through armour and organic tissue like it was nothing. Making a clean entry and exit, they disconnected the spinal cords of the aliens they were connected to, destroying a significant amount of brain matter as they travelled up at an angle and out of the foreheads of their targets.

James ran past the short aliens as they fell over dead, having just begun to raise weapons at his person. Stomping the ribcage of one, just due to it's position, his boot smashing it into paste and going right through. Orange gore and shards of bone sprayed everywhere, covering his leg, even as he made his way past.

Rounding the corner, he began firing his pistol at the aliens grouped along the hall, _**GG7**_ barking relentlessly. Rounds loaded into the chamber, and were accelerated by an electro-magnetic field generated by miniature coils inside the gun, hurtling with murder on them at the diminutive aliens. Shredding their bodies, arms holding weapons were blown off, and grenade belts were targeted alongside shield-hands.

Unluckily, a Unggoy had begun preparing a grenade the second it saw the _"_ _Daemon"_ , and it's hand was blown off by a round from the barrage. Screeching in fear and alarm, as it beheld the stump it now had, the others turned to see the grenade it had dropped, before leaping away. It dropped into a pile of similarly-modelled brethren.

James sprinted through them, and grabbed a grenade from the pile as he ran, jumping to the stairs before leaping up them and off the wall at the corner to get away from the plasma explosions.

Lightleg avoided the area, as he kept a close eye on the happenings, and shot a grappling line from an arm-bracer. Running down the apex of the line, he built speed for the up-curve, and was not present when plasma erupted from the balcony above where he was, washing lie a blue-silver wave over the stone.

Running back up, he used his swinging momentum to leap up to the next corner and retracted the grappling line.

Sliding into the hall of the next floor from his previous action, James was propelled forward on his back, and witnessed the surprised faces of the Covenant as they saw him skidding towards them. Holding his pistol in a stable two-hand stance, he sighted and fired at the aliens, pistol blasting away. Reloading after a short report, he rapidly dumped and slammed a new magazine in, and continued to light up the Covenant.

Taking fire from a rapidly moving, low positioned target, is not ideal at any time. The Covenant struggled to deal with these rapid and strong assaults, taking gauss-fire, and falling from being hit rapidly in their limbs even as they fired their guns. Plasma scattered into the stone, trying to get at the target, and purple needles hissed throughout the air. Knee's buckling one by one, their legs were crippled and they found themselves staring at the ceiling.

James leapt up from his moving position, running anew, and ascended more stairs. Turning through the path, he was fired upon straight-away, but unperturbed he continued, and dashed from side to side trying to dodge the rapid-fire plasma. The Covenant squad at the other end of the hall fired at him with a mounted weapon, sitting upon a tripod.

Rounds of gases flew the air, compressed bolts of plasma angrily buzzing at the human, as he sprinted to their position. James fired away with the _**GG7**_ , aiming for their legs, and was reworded with a scream of pain, as a leg exploded in blood, bone, and gore. Dashing from side to side, he kept out of the pathway, and used the seconds of confusion when they were switching gunners to close the distance between them.

Leaping over the frontal barricade they had set up, he flipped upside down, and broke a Kig'Yars neck. Rapidly drawing his pistol again, he put round after round into the skulls of the aliens, even as they tried to bring their weapons up at him in slow motion.

His perception altered now, having entered _Agent-Time_ , James fed off the adrenaline and heightened state of tension his body was in by picking up his pace. Charging the next corner of stairs, his footsteps began to make impactions, cracking the hard and supportive stone floor. He flew at the enemy now, lashing out with strikes from his fists and legs, stowing the pistol permanently now.

Punches crushed nasal cavities and jaws, kicks collapsed rib-cages, pelvis, and knees, and grapples snapped, crushed and broke all joints he got his hands on. Unggoy flew back from the impact of the hits, most not even being able to respond to rapidity of the hits, and in too much pain to respond afterwards. Some were able to lift their pistols and fire, but met a death at the hands of the speeding Agent regardless. The Kig'Yar that were present huddled behind their shields in fear, hoping for protection, but James always found a way around their defensive devices. Usually going for whatever wasn't shielded, he broke necks, crushed sternums, and broke their windpipes with vicious strikes.

Lightleg witnessed James abandon his guns, and began a massive ongoing melee with the aliens. Shrugging to himself, he jumped up to the present location of the Agent, and began to kill targets alongside him, while leaping from the walls to the ceiling. Leaving the floor for the OO to travel, the Ninja let loose his shuriken and other flying implements, executing the aliens with precise headshots. As he followed the sprinting Agent, Lightleg pulled out a Kama attached to chain, spun it up.

Leaping through the curving stairwell, as Robinson hurtled just below him, they leapt into the hall. Throwing the Kama out, Lightleg began striking the enemy as they ran out of the Temple. Pulling the wicked implement across the faces and bodies of their enemies, with lightning speed he sliced into them, leaving bodies that began to fall apart in the wake behind him. Slashing relentlessly, the Ninja furiously struck those who opposed their advance, ripping the chain and blade across the enemies ranks.

Targeting shields, he hooked the Kama into the Kig'Yar hands and ripped through their fingers, getting them to drop the devices. Screeching in pain, they would hold their hand for a scant second, before looking up and seeing an armoured fist heading their way. Hooking and slicing through methane tanks with ease, Unggoy were a non-factor in trying to stop him, choking to death as they ran out of breath in the human environment in a slow and painful way.

Making it to the ground floor, the two ran through the grand hallway of the central tower, pulling their ranged weapons again. The _**Arashikage**_ pulled out a slightly more than oversized pistol-like weapon, as the Agent unslung the **_LA-23_** , both beginning to open fire upon the aliens crowding its space. From the Ninja's weapon, bolts of metal flew, and struck with severe kinetic force knocking down whoever they hit. Even as they wondered what had hit them, their limbs unwittingly touched the area that they were shot, and came away blood coating their hand. Drilling holes the size of golf-ball through the enemy, the rounds would carve out the portion they struck, punching all the way through. James rounds would shred the enemies they hit, shattering their organic composition in the area touched, and nearly always causing instant dead.

Hundreds of Unggoy and Kig'Yar resisted their drive, opening up with their weapons and filling the air with the greasy staccato of continuous plasma small-arms fire. Several dozen turrets awaited them on the far side, as they wasted aliens upon their approach to the first leg on the upper floor, beginning to spin up and add multitudes more of plasma-bolts to the air. Dodging, sprinting and manoeuvring as best they could, the two Super-Soldiers slaughtered and killed all they could as they got closer and closer to the Grand Halls entrance.

The turrets began concentrating their attacks, trying to screen their approach, as they got closer. However the two just leapt, and flipped around the attempts, making them un-acquireable to the gunners. Arriving upon the line, James reached out, to his left, and with a smooth motion ripped the turret off it's stand. He proceeded to then hurl it as hard as he could down the firing line, and it hit three Unggoy in a row before caroming off into a new direction.

The Ninja leapt over and through the entrance, jumping and dashing up a set of stairs. Again, they were moving, up one flight, and down again, covering a section of the ruin. Now, they came upon the maze-like portion. Continuing at their rapid pace, they proceeded from memory, the Ninja following the OO. Rounding corners, they had to punch, kick, and slash their way through groups of aliens looking to surprise them. Making sure to never stop advancing, the two were quite vicious as they went along.

James kept ahold of an Unggoy that had surprised him a bit too much on one corner, and bashed a Kig'Yar who was attempted to make himself smaller than what could be seen, with the squealing aliens body. It hollered bloody murder, as he wielded it as a melee implement, flailing and doing further damage to it's comrades when it struck.

Spotting an enterprising alien beginning to ignite a pair of plasma grenades and skitter it's feet for a charge, James hucked the gibbering and crying Unggoy at it's brethren. The momentarily suicidal alien hooted in distress, as it had just clicked the grenades on, igniting their fuses. Then, his kin was smashing into him, and the grenades did their function, fusing to the surface of a target upon contact. With a 360° spatter, the plasma expanded from between the two, vaporizing most of them and what did not was blasted across the room with a loud **fwash**.

Lightleg jumped around a corners upper wall, grabbing the ceiling when upon arrival. In position immediately, the Ninja let loose a barrage of his drill-bolts, taking down a brace of aliens as they attempted to round the corner. The OO followed post-haste, as Lightleg leapt from wall to wall, coming around a left corner. Lashing out with his Kama, the Ninja dragged an alien who was manning a turrets skull to the left, and broke his neck as he cut through the jaw with a whiplash-like motion.

The Agent leapt over the shield-barricade they had constructed, launching a series of kicks at the other two guarding the weapons-system, crushing their orbital bones and smashing the matter into their brains resulting in instant death. The OO charged and smashed a fist into a Kig'Yars stomach, ripping away the shield protecting it, causing the alien to bend nearly in half as he had broken its spine from the blow

Throwing the dead beak-face aside at another Unggoy trying to bring a heavy weapon to bear upon him, he saw the thing build a sickly yellow glow, then fire and blow up in the hapless aliens face as the round impacted the flying Kig'Yar. Continuing through, the two emerged from the maze, and began to sprint for the exit.

A _**Wraith**_ hovertank awaited their presence at the entrance.

Charging at the beast, and beginning to pattern and move from side to side, they confused the gunners inside. Coming upon the tank, they began to circle it at high-speed, never circling in the same spot twice. James latched onto the rear as he ran a round, while Lightleg flung himself to it's hatch, stabbing a pair of his mono-molecular blades into the surface. The OO began to unload powerful, thudding, kinetic strikes upon the rear armour of the _**Wraith**_.

Ripping out piece after piece, as he smashed into the tank, Robinson noticed it was starting to swerve and wobble and kept up his actions. Lightleg had secured the hatch so it couldn't be opened, and was stabbing into the engine compartment with a tanto. Soon, the tank belched smoke, and sunk in a heap to the ground.

Both got clear, and continued their run, watching the tank go into critical plasma explosion within 3.5 seconds as they ran out of the temple complex.

" _Well, we made it. The Captain and Tai-shu won't be pleased with this."_ James nanocomm'd the Ninja, as they ran through the wild forest lands, avoiding Covenant patrols, and making all haste back to a place they could report, hopefully their lines.

" _Agreed. They will surely discover what we did down there, we were not able to shut everything down and lock it away like you did on Harvest."_ James nodded absently, as they sprinted in the direction of the Arcopolis'.

 **-Mega Man III – Spark Man Theme (remix) END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Silent Hill Guitar Medley START-**

John Forge looked over the city, as the news of the Covenant's manoeuvre filtered over the channels. Assessing his defences, he began to prepare for call-up to head to the south, so they could fight the enemy. However, this was belayed by Duke Maurya, who was in charge of the ground contingent. The Covenant had launched their entire fleet of transport gunships at the city, and were occupying the ruins while preparing to send a second army north. Understandably, they wouldn't be able to strip the defences now, as they had several thousand incoming.

Watching off into the distance from his _**Grizzly**_ AssaultMech, he observed the Aerospace fighters of humanity in the sky, fighting and flashing their guns against the _**Seraphs**_ and others as the air-armada made it's way to the central cities. Grimacing, he tried drawing a bead on the incoming, but they were too far out of the way right now. Walking the Mech off to the side, he began to try and find a position with more cover from the sky.

Aha! Mag-rail bridge, jackpot!

Running the Mech underneath, he crouched it down, sinking the legs as best as he could, and bringing his weapons to bear as best he could. Accessing an angle of 65°, the Sgt. Major had a handy amount of access to the sky from his position.

The cloud of transports having arrived now, Forge watched them descend, as he began to open fire with his twin gauss rifles, picking away at _**Spirits**_ and _**Phantoms**_. The Mech shuddered, as it accelerated super-dense rounds of ferric-uranium a the foe in the sky, the air rippling before the slug as it tore through the air, giving a visual effect the rounds having broke the sound-barrier dozens of times from the air fluctuations it left in its wake.

Hitting the transports rapidly, the rounds smashed into the armour plating, denting and tearing huge chunks out. The transports that were hit, rocked during the descent, as Forge fired to bring them down. Several of them crashed down, as the ballistic fire proved too much, and punctured their superstructure. Folding and cracking in the air, the hit enemy transports twisted into pieces, as flames and explosions burst from their interior.

Unfortunately, Forge got a call for assistance over the radio, and had to begin moving to aid the DropShips. The Covenant who had made it were surging through the streets to the ships the humans had on the ground, in an effort to cut them off from space. Heading to a reorg point, he gathered a company of powered rifleman, and a few Assault-Tanks along the way.

Rounding a city block, they spied a large bunch of Covenant encamped around their transport, and immediately opened fire. The Infantry taking various cover, unloaded small-arms PPC and Gauss fire at the aliens, a fusillade which prevented them from getting any grenades in the air due to volume. The tanks fired upon the transport, putting round after into the downed beast, blowing it to shreds with Lasers and Railgun fire.

Continuing to the DropShip, Forges contingent killed errant Covenant along the way, but hadn't met any significant amounts as of yet. When they got a call to aid DropShip #4, and raced to it's position, that was when they saw the multitudes of enemy in their greatest concentration. Vehicles were packed onto the 8-lane highway, all firing at any human vehicles in sight, with thousands of Unggoy and Kig'Yar swarming about and firing everything they had at the landing site and it's defences.

The DropShips weapons fired continuously, eradicating vehicles and infantry by the score, as the powerful NL55's scorched the earth and pounded the area with the not-insignificant size of its U/AC 20's shells. Undeterred, the aliens pressed onwards, and viciously continued their assault, and Wraiths were even now getting close enough to launch attacks upon the DropShips body. Comparatively pinpricks, they could still deal damage to the skin and systems a DropShip held, thus it had to be careful about letting too many of the enemies plasma rounds touch it.

Opening fire as a group, Forges Irregular pack of individuals carved into the pressing Covenant horde, aiming to get between them and their ticket out. They cut into the aliens from the alleyway they came through, and charge to the DropShips landing area. Launching slugs, PPC, and scattering missiles throughout the attackers, they cause enough death and confusion to get an opportunity, and capitalize. Once so, the group runs through the bloody streets, firing and hurling explosives all along the way.

Successfully getting between the DropShip and the aliens, the troopers man the walls and defences, whilst the tanks maintain a mobile fire-and-support routine. Forges Mech adds it's weight to vehicle-disposable duty, puncturing metallic purple skinned bodies with fair brutality, tossing vehicles around as they are struck. Racking up substantial amounts of kills, he puts away large amounts of _**Wraith**_ , _**Spectre**_ , _**Locust**_ , _**Ghost**_ , and such.

The infanteers fire into the mass of enemy lifeforms, utilizing the 'Ports built-in security defences, and unleash plenty of RAC-2's upon the enemy. Opening up with a thunderous roar, the guns spat supersonic lead at a rapid pace, killing Unggoy and Kig'Yar by the dozens and smashing charging _**Ghosts**_ to pieces.

Their tanks fired and moved continuously, never staying in the same place for counter-fire. Each kept the channel open with the other, maintaining an effective head-hunting method. They prevented Wraith from getting to close, and killed any group setting up heavy-weapons.

Forge dodged and jinked his Mech around, trying to keep out of the way of the plasma-fire, sending a set of LRM's downrange. They roared and rocketed towards their target, even as he took the burst of a plasma beam to his lower-left torso.

Suddenly, he heard an almighty roar and as John turned his Mech, the DropShip began to lift off.

" _Loading complete, DropShip #4 en-route to the Spirit of Fire."_

3 other DropShips lifted off, with 2 reporting significant trouble.

Forge gathered his troops, and they began making for the closest DropShip in trouble.

Radioing ahead, he made a plan with the on-site commander, and manoeuvred the soldiers in position by going through a set of blocks in a back-alley way so they would be able to approach the enemy from a particular direction. Blasting aliens as they went along, there were points where the Tanks and Mech had to blast apart buildings, just to get at the entrenched enemy.

Coming upon the next sight, Forge beheld a massive concentration of Wraiths, all firing at the gates and the DropShip. Immediately setting out orders and a plan, he got his soldiers to work. They organized into position and put it into effect.

Soldiers began firing heavy-weapons from the upper-floors of the buildings surrounding the streets.

Tanks rolled by, shooting the rear of the Hovertanks.

Forge just charged straight in, and began laying out haymakers, jabs, and punches from dump-truck sized fists, knocking the enemy tanks all over the place. Smashing about, the Sgt. Major crushed, stomped, and ripped the tanks apart as rapidly as he could get his hands upon them.

In confusion, the enemy fired on each other, not being able to get a bead on the larger combatant. Their attempts to target and fire at Forge resulted in weapons-fire falling on their comrades. Destroying them rapidly in the confusion, Forge watched as the next DropShip took off, and then counted off all the ones that had made contact and evacuated the premise of **Valasha**.

Damn, 9 out of 10.

Searching the location, he informed the squad they were moving out. Jogging his Mech back to one of the main streets, he found their target war a klick down the road. Motioning to the troops, they moved down the road as one, surveying and viewing the empty streets.

It was eerie. Not twenty-four hours ago, this was a bustling Metropolis, now it was a quiet ghost-town. Paper flags fluttered in the wind, as dust blew down the street, the only sound that was heard aside from the weapon-fire in the distance.

Continuing on, Forge eventually go the group to the corner where the DropShip was. They found the reason that it was not talking. The ship was fighting off a Scarab, and no Mech's were around. Even so, Forge didn't know if _**Grizzly**_ could take the enemy. Coming up with plan, he sent the soldiers on their way. Bracing himself, he ran the Assaultmech from cover, and began firing everything he had in an Alpha Strike.

His Gauss slugs rocketed from their barrels, smashing into the leg he had targeted, LRM's whooshing quickly into place as well. Smashing apart the delicate internals, having busted through the not-insignificant armour, the Scarab began to halt it's stream of fire upon the DropShip and turn around. Firing continuously and nervously into the leg, Forge put his Mech int a strafing run, trying to circle around the super-heavyweight and keep it's deadly punch from knocking him out.

Small-arms weapons fire began to pepper the body of the behemoth, and moderately sized rockets, lasers, and PPC bolts flew at it from the direction of the buildings lining the street.

Forgoing all niceties, the _**Scarab**_ turned it's plasma-beam on, and blasted the entire right-side block as it manoeuvred itself around to face the Assaultmech dogging it's legs. Men died by the handful, not even having time to scream, as the powerful burst of plasma washed over them blasting through the building without a thought. Their suits instantly vaporized, from the level of energy unleashed, the only thing left being there memory.

Forge grimaced as he continued to run the Mech around the _**Scarab**_. Nearly 100 soldiers, extinguished in an instant. He ordered the Tanks to move in now, and narrowed his eyes as the enemy had finished moving 180°, giving him the opportunity he desired.

As his troops continued to distract it, the Tanks rolled around the corner. Stopping and setting themselves up, the three began firing into the rear of the enemy machine, just as John joined them and began firing. Combined, the four's firepower blasted away what protection the aliens had for their engine compartment, and began to pour rounds upon the delicate components. A salvo of LRM's did the job, completely cracking the casing, a violent plasmatic explosion released from their actions as the _**Scarab**_ groaned and died.

"DropShip #10 here, thanks for the save Sgt. Major."

"Don't waste it, get airborne."

"Roger." With that short conversation, the DropShip began to lift off, and arced through the atmosphere.

 **-Silent Hill Guitar Medley END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Star Fox Corneria Theme (Power Metal Cover) START-**

As the first set of DropShips took off, they slowed engines, and waited for the rest of their numbers.

That was when their Aerospace fighters warned that a large amount of the Covenant Air Force was headed at them. Klaxons blazed alarms in warning, as gunners ran to the turrets, weapons opening all across the DropShip's hulls. Civilians huddled and worried in the holds, as the enemy armada bore down upon their ships. The pilots prepared for emergency manoeuvre's and the captains gave the announcement that everyone was to strap in for high-intensity flying.

The ships awaited the oncoming storm, and soon in the distance, was approaching the enemies own transport-gunship swarm.

The DropShips began to open fire, lashing out with autocannon fire, lasers, PPC, gauss and missile. Beams of emerald flew at the Covenant air-power. Blue globes of energy tore through the air-space at an apparently-lazy pace, only looking slow to the eyes before it was too late. Swarms of missiles flew and twisted through the air, dancing around plasma, energy, and projectile fire, vectoring for the _**Phantoms**_ , and **_Spirits_**.

The Covenant opened fire, now having gotten close enough, and filled the airspace with plasma. Thousands of rapid-fire plasma cannon of the kind the _**Seraph**_ was equipped with, began to spit bolts of super-heated and compacted gases, flinging hundreds of bolts per minute at the accelerating ships.

Weapons from both sides began to hit at this point.

Lasers smashed into Covenant air-transports, blasting them from the air, shearing away entire sections with the emerald fury of photons unleashed. Missiles bracketed their forms where targeted as such, rocking them with powerful and compact detonations, the transports struggling to shrug the damage and continue their mission. PPC fire overwhelmed their electronics with discharge, and the mass thermal/kinetic damage they dealt upon impact, swatting the enemy craft aside.

The Covenant Air Armada forged inwards, covering the DropShips with their presence, and pouring the fire on even as they accelerated out of the atmosphere.

Unloading with their gauss weapons now that the bastards were close, the gunners began to open up with everything they had, sending streams of supersonic metal out to the enemy. The civilians they had in their hold depended on them, they all thought about as they hammered away with their weapons. Refilling their resolve, the gunners continued to fire as hard and fast as they could, targeting and hitting the Covenant's air-power with everything they had. Firing non-stop, the humans unleashed the rapacious guns upon the enemy, letting nothing deter them as they shot down transport after transport.

Groups of transports evaded and pelted the ships with plasma-fire, as they attempted to take them and their weapons out. Concentrating on gun-emplacements, they tried to overwhelm them with numbers and conventional plasma-fire. Hundreds of bolts flew at the ports, super-heated ionized gases hitting and splashing over the gun stubs.

The guns fired at the ships menacing them, and began to slowly become overwhelmed, even as they fragg'd ship after ship the Covenant had. Turrets began to lose operational ability, going dark on the gunners, as their outer structures were melted shut.

The Covenant air armada began to sense victory, and pressed the attack.

Suddenly, many of them began to be hit from above.

Gunners cried out in joy, alongside the pilots and captains. The rest of their Aerospace contingent was here, and it had saved the day.

Hundreds of the enemy came under fire, as the fighters swooped in from out of the twilight sun, letting loose with rapid-fire lasers, and PPC. Charging down through the air, they targeted and blasted the transports as they struggled to move out of the way, launching missiles at those farther away and making for an escape.

Enemy craft began to die in multitudes, falling as they were assaulted and blasted from above. The one place they could not fire upon in atmosphere, above their heads...

Fighters streaked throughout the DropShip's formation, unleashing death upon the enemy, firing unopposed as they attacked all Covenant in sight. Falling upon them, like a peregrine falcon on a fat pigeon, they raked their claws across the exposed backs of the Covenant. Tearing up significant wounds with every pass, they hunted and corralled all that inhabited the airspace.

Fighters chased and dogged the transport fleet, as they tried to continue firing at something, anything by this point. The Covenant's plasma-cannons couldn't bring themselves to bear upon the opponent, so they struggled to manoeuvre and get rid of the fighters eating them alive. The Phantoms were able to manage some success in orienting their weapons to fire upon those attacking them, belching out rapid-fire bolts of small-arms plasma. More than a few did hit the planes, but the _**Gokens**_ shrugged it for the most part, made to resist heavier and greater firepower than that.

With a roar, the Exoatmospheric fighters smashed through the remainder of the Covenant Air Assault, ending for sure any ship that menaced or harassed their DropShips. Blasting them out of the sky with their weapons, the machines died bright deaths as they blew apart in mid-air, absorbing weapons-fire from lasers, PPC, and more.

" _Goken-1 to DropShip flotilla Commander. The skies are clear. You may proceed to the Spirit of Fire."_

" _Understood Goken-1. Thank you, and godspeed."_

 **-Star Fox Corneria theme (Power Metal Cover) END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Fear Factory Donkey Kong Country Guitar Cover START-**

Arbiter Wattinree stared at the screen, contemplating his enemy.

They would go to nearly any length to protect their people, especially those who could not fight. It was certainly fine to put one's people as a high priority, Xytan thought, but making it an integral part of your operations did not feel right to him. Most likely, it would be Covenant like Unggoy and Kig'Yar dieing if the situation was reversed and they were being invaded he surmised and therefore did not give much consideration to such 'rescue operations'. Sangheili were born warriors, and knew how to fight, therefore they would resist what came their way.

The Arbiter sighed, pushing aside the egotistical thought, submersing his mind in the images he had long trained to break away from such arrogance, thinking of battle and defeat.

"Order all ships to attack." The command was sent immediately, and Xytan began to sink himself into battle.

His _**BB**_ 's began to position themselves around his flagship, the Battlecruisers and Destroyers pushing inwards. Letting loose torpedoes immediately, he set about ordering the fighter contingents of each ship to hang close and provide detail protection and assignment. The _**CPV's**_ and _**CCS's**_ moved towards the human lines, and began to light up their projectors.

Once close enough, and having launched a second wave of torpedoes, the groups line began to fir and lanced across the void.

The human fleet began firing their weapons, and targeted the torpedoes launched with the lighter energy weapons, while their fighters screamed towards the Arbiters fleet. Their railcannon rounds streaked at his ships, and lit up their shields when they were pinged. The Battlecruisers were all hit by rounds, but continued their path, and soon had opened up with the plasma-beams.

Lighting up the Battlecruisers and Destroyers on the line that the humans possessed, the beams washed over their targets, dealing searing damage with the super-heated plasma. The ships fired back right away, hitting the 3.5km _**CPV's**_ with slews of emerald lasers, glowing blue bolts, and capital-class missiles.

Tanking damage, the CPV's launched torpedoes, trying to overcome the strain of heavy coordinated fire. The human ships now had to split fire from their guns to two targets, trying to stop the devastating weapons from impacting their ships.

His _**BB's**_ began to glow, possessing the most powerful projector barring the _**CSO**_ -class, they armed their long-range plasma-beam-projectors. With a flare, they lit up the void with a flare of glowing blue plasma, driving across the space between fleets within seconds. The energy smashed into the human Battleships, melting components and fusing armour, trying to put their cannons out of action.

The humans fired their larger weaponry at his heavyweights. Those large cursed rounds flew through space, and rocked the ships they hit, draining their shields. Emerald and sapphire bolts flew from their surface, striking out angrily at the ships in his command. Snorting, he ordered the _**BB's**_ to prepare to fire again, as he ordered a Sangheili Minor to begin moving the ship forward.

Launching more torpedoes, he began to power up the projector, always taking care to aim himself considering the weapons power.

The _**CPV's**_ began to destroy their opposite's, weathering their storm, and taking out the human _"_ _Battlecruisers"_ as they pushed the _"_ _Destroyers"_ back, and put off dealing with the smaller foe. Plasma lit up again, and lunged from their maws, lashing into the enemy ships, and began to punch through on the weakened sections of armour. As the line became damaged, the _**CPV's**_ switched targets immediately, and began to gaze at the Destroyers and belch torpedoes.

The human destroyers manoeuvred about, struggling to find a way around the enemy weapons, now that their heavy hitters were down. The _**Hanzo's**_ accelerated about, peppering the enemy with laser, PPC, and missile-fire. Having the cruisers out of action took their primary heavy weapons out of the battle, and left them only with 2-on-1 tactics, which couldn't work in this case as their numbers were equal.

The Energy-projector's fire and fury lanced across space, and slammed into one of the human carriers, ripping into it with unmatched power. Armour failed, as the plating attempted to shed the energy, but the beam was focused and powerful. Puncturing through after only a moments notice, the beam continued through decks, magazines, and quarters, only stopping for a second at the secondary belt before puncturing the massive reactor room. A ball of yellow-gold fusion fury ripped out of the ship, within a swirling sphere, the released energy trying to consume the materials in it's way for fuel before burning out in the vacuum of space.

The humans increased their firing rate again, pushing their heat dissipation to maximum, trying in vain to bring down the enemies shields and do damage.

With a flash, the 4 _**BB's**_ were struck by railcannon rounds, causing their shields to shimmer brightly before fading. The Carriers moved in closer, and began firing with their hosts of PPC, Lasers, and Gauss. Bolts began to strike the _**BB's**_ shields in large quantities, straining them. The ships launched another wave of torpedoes, and forced the humans to split fire again, as they prepared to pick them off one by one.

3 _**CPV's**_ lit up, as their more manoeuvrable _**Hanzo**_ opposite's danced around them, dealing out collaborative damage. 4 _**Hanzo's**_ were blown up in the exchange thus far. The Arbiter narrowed his eyes minutely, consternation on his face visible and caused by the human ships abilities. With their destroyers starting to fall, it was only a matter of time.

The human fighters were now intercepting his torpedoes', trying to bring more capital-ship fire upon his own hips. His _**Seraphs**_ were doing their best but were considerably outmatched, he concluded.

"Have one _**BB**_ join the _**CPV's**_ , so they can conclude their operations faster." The Arbiter said to a subordinate at the comm station, who swiftly complied.

One of his battleships began moving to the destroyer lines, as they fired their plasma-beam-projectors again, damaging more of the humans ships and removing four battleships from operation. The humans carrier began to accelerate closer, in a gambit to bring their heavier weaponry against the heavyweights in his possession. Firing multitudes of missiles, they belched out thousands, and they headed towards Xytan and his ships.

Sending another bracket of torpedoes out, he ordered the ships that would be in the path of the bombardment to raise their ships to maximum, and cut all other function. The humans missiles proved troublesome in engagements, possessing surprising fury inside small packages, and coming in multitudes that overwhelmed anti-missile systems.

Pulse-lasers began to spin up their weapons, and were fed the data about the incoming barrage. The ships ceased advancing, and bolstered their shields, as they prepared for impact. The barrage got within range, and the Covenant's defences opened up on them, doing their best to destroy or disable the incoming malevolent objects. Rapid groups of red lashed out of their turrets, towards the incoming missiles, striking their casing and wearing down their armoured shells. Transmitting energy into the interior once it was exposed, the lasers caused more than few missiles to fail and come to dead stops.

The barrage war upon them now, and it impacted the ships with thunderous reports, before an almighty bang was heard. And yellow-gold fusion detonations blossomed outside their shields, engulfing them in the atomic fury of hydrogen, swallowing them up from view.

Unfortunately, their shields held, and the _**BB's**_ fired alongside the _**CSO**_ , throwing three powerful blue beams across the void and one over-powered whitish-silver beam. The beams crashed into the human ships, and began to crave into their hulls. The Energy-projector's destructive wake slashed through two more _**Yamato's**_ , slicing through their upper hulls.

The human ships took more and more damage from the plasma-beams, and began to look crisped and blackened. The torpedoes launched by the Covenant makes it through this time, and finish's off their damaged targets, destroying the remainder of the _**Yamato's**_ , 3 Musashi Carriers.

The _**Yamamoto's**_ were now completely destroyed by his _**CPV's**_ , having spared a few plasma torpedoes to finish the job while they were fighting the _**Hanzo's**_. The human destroyers are putting up a spirited defence however, and for every two of them taken down, one _**CPV**_ pays the price. Eventually only 7 _**CPV's**_ remain, with the _**Hanzo's**_ floating dead in space, or destroyed.

"Sir, a transport form the surface, they say they've recovered something important!" Xytan took his attention from battle, and addressed his comm's officer.

"Hmmm? What do they have?"

They request to speak to you alone." Xytan nodded, before bringing the channel to his throne, which quickly projected an Sangheili Zealot in a pilots cockpit, standing next to a Major who was piloting.

"What have you found." Xytan questioned.

Without a word, the Sangheili held up a small device.

Xytan nodded, narrowing his eyes, and bid them get to the flagship quickly while assigning escorts.

 _~Perspective Shift~_

Ryu Kurita gazed stonily at the holoscreen, displeased just the beginning of what he was feeling, as he watched his fleet turned to mulch over minutes. Damn these Covenant to where the Asura dwelled.

"Kurita-sama, the DropShip's have finished leaving Valasha's atmosphere, and are now embarking upon the _**SLDF**_ fleet's _**Spirit of Fire**_." A comm's officer reported.

"Good, have them begin that second DropShip wave and pick up any of our forces that are still on the ground, and then get the hell out of here! I don't think the Star League will be able to much here." The Kuritan-heir said resignedly.

"The _**SLS Spirit of Fire**_ states it will comply, and godspeed to us Kurita-sama." The Kurita nodded, keeping focus on the battle, as he ordered weapons fired, and fighters assigned.

Minutes passed tersely, until he was down to just his carrier, and that of the _**Musashi's**_ sister-ship, the _**Nobunaga**_.

"Kurita-sama, missile-tube magazines down to 1/10th capacity." The gunnery officer barked out.

"Fusion?" Asked the _**Tai-shu**_.

"Negative Kurita-sama, we have expended all Fusion rounds." The Kurita cursed, hoping for a miracle, as these ships were just to strong.

"KURITA-SAMA, WE HAVE JUMP SIGNALS INCOMING!" Reported the sensor operator.

Ryu's attention was drawn to the holoscreen again, as it began to show a fleet exiting Hyperspace, closely behind his carriers. His eyes widened, as he saw the flag.

A steel ring with seven diamond-shaped stars in it's circumference, encasing a clenched and gauntleted steel fist, royal blue in colour.

"Attention Covenant force! We know you've had a long battle, and would rather not just waste lives if given an opportunity, so we give you this one chance to flee. I, General Friedrich Steiner of the Lyran Commonwealth, say that you will not face the Kuritans alone should you wish to test us." The mans chiselled face came on screen, his intelligent and ruthless eyes illuminated brilliantly by the video-transmission.

With a moments pause, the Covenant began to leave the system, disappearing into the blue-glow of slipspace.

"I am glad to see you Friedrich. We were in more than a little bit of a bind here. I had just lost all of my ships, and they were _the_ _reinforcements_! Suffice to say if you had not arrived, my father would be declaring a blood feud with these aliens over my death." Ryu stated, bowing lightly.

"I have been gathering these ships for a time, and it is only now that we've put together a Lyran Expeditionary Fleet command structure due to so many ships reinforcing the sectors of the frontier." Friedrich reported stalwartly, with the Kurita nodding along. Yes, that made sense, the Lyrans were the first to contribute to the conflict, and had aided the Combine much when it came to their naval posture.

"I hope you are here to stay, I will need to go and meet with father before I can requisition another fleet to protect Valasha's system." Ryu said, thinking about how his father would react to his brush with death.

"We are to hold this portion of the frontier as long as I see it's strategically wise, and tactically viable." Friedrich replied.

"Thank you again."

 _~Perspective shift~_

"Get those people to quarters! Robinson, what do you have to report?" Cutter yelled orders, before turning to the Agent who had made it back with the second DropShip run.

"Sir, we recovered the next coordinates... However, I messed up, and lost one of the data modules we made." The OO stood ramrod straight while reporting his failure.

"Can the Covenant access that?" Cutter more wondered to himself out loud, rather than the still Agent.

"Unknown sir. I would not put money against it, even if they are imitative rather than innovative. They love their 'Gods' too much, and would find a way." The Agent bit out, annoyed with himself, showing in his voices more gravelly tone and tenseness.

"Well, we will have to assume that they know what we know. It just means we will have to hurry to the next location." Cutter sighed, before saluting and dismissing the man.

"I wonder if they will get there first?"

 **-Fear Factory Donkey Kong Country Guitar Cover END-**

 **BattleTech Wars:**

 **Part 2-**

 **Valasha II**

 _~End~_

 **AUTHOR NOTE:** One thing I would like to note, is the Covenant AI worship the Forerunners as Gods, same as everyone else in the Covenant.

When Xytan talks, I just imagine M. Bison from the Street Fighter Animated(Oh yes!), or Shao Khan(Is that your best?!)

 **NEW REVIEW REPLY SECTION:**

Here, I'll respond to reviews as best I can, including ones from the other stories that are included in this.

 **JOOP-ROLL** – I understand that is what **you** want. However, the codex is the codex, it will of course get edits and updates on factions, weapons and armour as I go. In fact, the next one I'm probably going to do is Armour, to detail how Ferro-Fibrous came about alongside the forging experiments they conducted with radiation. Thanks for reviewing and being interested.

 **TrialWriter246** – Thank you, that is EXACTLY what the codex is for, to see the transformation and development of the human race and how it is possibly they are this populous and spread out by the time of the 26th Century. Thanks again for reviewing.

 **Just a Crazy-Man** – Thanks for reviewing all the stories, I appreciate that very much. I hope to stay cool the entire time. Thanks for reviewing.

 **MurphysLaw89** – Thanks for the praise my friend! I strive to provide quality battle and adventure scenes, but war is my meat and potatoes when it comes to writing, and to reconcile my fantasy with good mil-scifi/fantasy is all I try to do. Thanks for your review.

 **tanithlipsky** – Thanks very much. I'm making sure to try my hardest to do all of this justice.

 **MASSIVE-** guest- Thanks very much for your review. This specific continuity of Transformers would be the "Japanese G1 Animated Continuity", and I used that one since it is connected to **EVERYTHING** , or at least they try to. G1 is the primary base, but I could never forget to add The Beast Wars, greatest part of my childhood.

 **Artyom-Dreizehn** – No, I sectioning off the parts in what I feel will be an arc. The Planets denote the sub-parts.

-Future idea, may or may not happen, but is sorta a spoiler. Mortal Kombat does exist here, but Earthrealm has been hidden for a long time. Harry Dresden in the 26th Century. Participates for the whole of human space as Raidens dead ringer, when he thinks about what Liu Kang actually is faced with.

-74 follows, 85 favourites, 13,403 views so far. 25 reviews from those who are interested enough, and I hope to please and increase that number soon. Writers thrive on reviews.

Also, I keep forgetting to do it, but I'm plugging a story of a friendly author I know, named ImHavok795. The cool user has been working on an amazing Original Themes X Mass Effect story, and even though he writes in a short-chapter style, he has accomplished 80+ chapters. _**"Visions of a Diesel Future"**_ is an amazing look at a different humanity, one steeped in mysticism and the old-school of scifi, back when clockwork was a thing and magic made crystals. Check it out, and if you have trouble, just be patient.


	10. Chapter 10

**Mantle Across A Starry League**

 **Disclaimer** : I own no franchise or original content that appears within. They belong to their creator's, and owners.

 **Summary** : Megaverse. A grand vision, on how Mass Effect, and others will be affected by a humanity forged from the influences of 1980's-2000's Sci-Fi and such. Prepare for BattleMech's, Powered Armour's, Fusion, Energy Weapons, Psychics, Magics, and more. How will the Citadel deal with a humanity that has seen and has Cyborgs, Super-Soldiers, BattleMech's, WarShips, with more to come?

One of the more exotic ground units of humanity emerges in this chapter, and displays it's preeminent power.

Enter, the _ **Lyran Commonwealth**_ , who bring gifts of tanks with mo' tank on yo' tank, because I heard you liked tanks bruh!

 **Chapter 10-BattleTech Wars:Part 2-Ottumwa I**

" _When even the dictators of today appeal to reason, they mean that they possess the most_ _ **tanks**_ _. They were rational enough to build them; others should be rational enough to yield to them."-Max Horkheimer_

 **-Classical – Richard Wagner – Ride of the Valkyries START-**

 **Draconis Combine**

 **Planet Valasha**

 **10** **th** **February**

General Friedrich Steiner, the head of _**HEIMDALL**_ in the _**LCAF**_ , deployed with his army to the planets surface. There were still significant Covenant troops upon the equatorial line, and he needed to kill them before they got to comfortable in that Temple.

The massive and custom-built DropShip's hit the atmosphere with a loud **fwash** , shaking the ships as they descended to a viable landing zone. The **Barbarossa-Class** carried 100,000 tonnes of special units, ready to roll forth and smash the Covenant to pieces. All commanders anticipating this drop, as they waited inside their units.

The Tiger Drei.

A massive conglomerate of twelve metres wide, thirty-one metres long, and weighing approximately 1,750 tonnes. A 305mm Railcannon was it's main armament, having inertial dampeners placed in the turret to prevent recoil tearing it off. Secondary RAC-2's dotted it's hull, providing anti-missile and anti-infantry abilities. The rounds were fitted with a complex device that held pure-fusion grade hydrogen, which would detonate upon impact or proximity(depending on how they were primed by the AI as it auto-loaded the shells.

The DropShip opened up, and out rolled 57 machines of the Ultra-Heavy Tank Battalion, forming up and waiting for the other ships to disembark their own accompaniment. The 3-story hull cast a shadow over the tanks, and a Mech would barely be able to see onto the deck. The cannon rotated back and forth on the tanks, as they each surveyed the distance with their sensors and their visuals.

VTOL's embarked from the second space-transit vehicle, hovering in formation above the battalion. Smaller, more mobile platforms emerged from the third DropShip, as they looked like rats milling about their larger brethren. The assorted Assault Tanks took up perimeter around the Tiger III's, careful to stay wide of the monolithic-sized tread systems, their weapons systems loading and preparing to spit hot-death at the enemy.

Friedrich looked around from high-up his tank _**Sigdrifa**_ , and saw that all were in position, and ready. Waving to the others that could see him, he motioned with his hand, drawing his finger in several rapid horizontal circles indicating the force was to begin moving.

 _ **"ACHTUNG, PANZER!"**_ The General bellowed from his loudspeaker.

" _ **VORWARTS!"**_ The General yelled into his comms, making himself heard over the rumble of the Tigers massive engines, fusion reaction burning with Sunfire deep within and pushing the massive treads forward. The **_Tigers_** , _**Valkyries**_ , and the smaller **_Fenris_** tanks all moved out, leaving the landing area behind for the ships to defend.

Beginning to move, Friedrich read up on what the Covenant were currently in-motion with, looking at his bracers tactical display.

" **There is a central energy-shielding unit within their encampment, and it is guarding the main units of the Covenant force, with their expedition to the Temple having reduced numbers in preparation to fight us."** His AI, **Tveskæg** ( _Forkbeard_ in Danish) stated as he emerged, wearing a crowned 10th Century helm, chainmail and partial plate armour girding him alongside his Viking Sword that was etched with glowing translucent Runes. The sign of **Odhinn** carved into the helm he wore, his AI turned the helm to stare at the battlefield and gestured at the Covenant encampment with an armoured fist.

"I see. There's three main generators, for the sections of the bases, powering a central generator. However, halting it's operations should be a simple matter, with our forces firepower." Friedrich gestured, and grouped the tanks into three units, putting a Colonel and two Majors in charge of each spear, with him in overall command for the overall battle.

 _"Colonel, Majors, I want your three groups to this area. Our groups are to be 120° apart from each other, reference point is the enemy bases generators, around 2km outside their perimeter."_ Friedrich stated, after bringing the officers into his discussion with **Tveskæg** , and showing them the ideal position they should be in before beginning their assault.

The three nodded, as they barked orders of their own comms officers, giving vectors and directions to the other tanks in the Battalion. Sustaining a rampant pace, they covered massive amounts of ground, the Assault Tanks gunning their engines keeping up with the giants. Steiner grinned, straightening his General's cap, as he took in the crisp fresh air, rolling through the countryside and approaching the equator. The ground churned, and crumbled beneath the mighty tread, breeding clouds of dust as they went, leaving debris settling in their wake.

The countryside greeted them, some animals watching on as the huge force rolled through, and others such as the many species of birds couldn't bare the noise and vibration taking flight and fleeing. The tanks rumbled through the farming countryside, perfect fly-over country, smashing through paddies of rice and other multi-tiered constructs that contained various types of food exports of the **Draconis Combine**. As the beautiful countryside was marred by the advancing tanks, and their various treads, they began to separate into three individual forces. Three groups of 19 formed, the air fleet separating equally amongst the tanks, giving them each 20 GunShips.

The Covenant huddled in fear as they approached, having detected the movements and emissions coming from the north, and prepared as many of their defences as they could whilst hoping to destroy the enemy force. Most had a pit in their stomach, feeling that they would be unable to prevent the coming destruction, given the humans propensity for only showing a new unit once it was concentrated into a professional military outfit.

Hardly new, the Lyran's had been itching to get their Tiger Tanks into action, but hadn't had the opportune moment yet. Which, as a point-of-fact, was when orbital supremacy was established and only then would the Tiger be unleashed. The Commanders of the units had protested, and vehemently petitioned to have the restrictions lifted as they believed they could destroy Covenant ships from the ground, but the **Archon** summarily refused.

She refused to endanger the amount of lives that each tanks carried, she refused to waste the resources committed and built with Lyran labour, and most of all she refused the notion her tanks could down the ships of the enemy based upon the facts about their shielding. Such had been said, and all sorts of explanations thrown back and forth, but Katrina Steiner refused to let them test their abilities and draw such attention to the Lyran Commonwealth. For all they know, the Covenant could respond and blast them with larger concentrations of ships from space, overwhelming their tanks and it would be over. Ergo they would be used in situations where they could completely overwhelm the enemy.

The Tiger's manoeuvred into place surrounding the base, as defence craft began taking off and leaving the defence shield to attack them. Moving to a greater altitude, the _**Valkyrie**_ GunShip craft began to acquire targeting solution from the swarm coming at them, loading missiles into launchers and cycling their weapons up to standby.

The Covenant transport craft opened fire while they held the defilade position, and fired down at an angle towards the humans. Ionized bolts of super-heated gas flew towards them, terse multitudes screaming throughout the sky, electromagnetically-compressed death burning towards the Lyran air force.

Unleashing a barrage of their own missiles, the Barracuda-D, the hypersonic anti-air missiles accelerated towards their targets. Streaking and diving through the cloud of oncoming plasma, they weaved and danced through the bolts, burning faster than the enemy could track with their speed. While the plasma spattered against the bodies of the _**LCAF**_ air-contingent, sizzling and boiling away chunks of armour, the **_Barracuda-D's_** impacted.

Striking and penetrating the Spirits, and Phantoms with ease, the Barracuda-D's struck true. Smashing into the ships like a speeding Mammoth, they were rocked then broken when the missiles detonated inside, blasting apart the transports like water-balloons with a flash of actinic-whitish-blue fire. The Valkyries continued to fire, bringing their powerful RAC-7s to bear, and sending a jaw-rattling salvo of 75mm rounds down-range. Slamming into the Seraphs that were there, they cut their shields down with the rapid cannon fire, and turned them to scrap metal with the lead screens that hit crumpling them and sending the alien ships into plummeting spirals to the ground below.

" _ **FIRE AT WILL!"**_ Yelled the General into his communicator, sending the order to all tanks, now that they were in position. Finely crafted, precision perfected gun barrels barked, sending a small discharge out with their firing. With a krak of displaced air, the rounds exited the carefully forged long-snout cannons, into the Covenant's energy screen.

The hydrogen charges within ignited, as the fuel was compressed into the wonderful glow of atomic fury, before it ripped free of the complex-mechanism and it's small inertial dampener(stopped the hydrogen from detonating under extreme impulse at high-speed). Yellow-gold detonations bathed the screen in violent fury, the force shredding objects to their component elements. With a groan, the energy shield fell, but kept the worst of the detonations away from their base and numbers.

The Covenant Legions advanced immediately, and began firing with everything they had.

" _Covenant battle-line, ahead 2 km, 0.01 kiloton round!"_ Friedrich ordered his men in the command room.

" _Dialing, and shot away!"_ Spoke the Gunner, as he set the yield for the round, and gave the command to fire once the cannon was oriented properly.

" _Shot is good. Over 200+ enemy kills General."_ A sensor operator reported. As the tanks began acquiring and finding their own targets, Friedrich opened up alongside them, targeting the first line of defences. A round impacted the line, smashing through the defence turret and it's energy shield with the massive kinetic power of the round, and then decimated with the atomic fury of a fusion reaction going off from within their structure.

Ripping into the base complexes they sat up, they first volley robbed most of the base of power. The only unit left working and not overloaded, or destroyed, was the main generator for the energy-shield. Which happened to be rebooting in the distance, behind a few structures and walls.

The Covenant's line were screaming in terror, as nearly half of them died in the barrage, and their equipment was completely destroyed in the areas that had been hit. Firing as much as their panicky-hides could, the Unggoy and Kig'Yar sprinted about in a desperate manner. Those who were at heavy weapons, were joined by everyone that was near, the aliens trying to desperately group fire upon the human machines before they got close enough to run them all over with those massive treads.

" _Valkyrie-leader begin bombing runs."_ Friedrich ordered through his bracer, giving the signal for the Captain in charge of the Air-Force-Contingent.

The Valkyries began performing strafing runs, launching powerful missile strikes that slammed into the buildings they overshot, RAC-7 spitting it's silver stream of fire. Rounds surged out of the cannon, as the _**Valkyries**_ raced through the Covenant bases Airspace, firing at the aliens manning the various defence's. Pulling high-G manoeuvres, the GunShips streaked through the air, dodging enemy plasma fire as they reduced the defenders in number.

Rounds lit up the Covenant defenders, as they were all brought under fire from the withering RAC-7's, air-defence weapons blown to pieces as they struggled to fire upon the fast-movers. Catching a few with large bolts of plasma, around 7 caught ionized plasma in their engine blocks as they jetted through the complex trenches(formed by the buildings the Covenant had all over the place), and blowing up spectacularly in the air, and hurtling into a nosedive with screeches.

Smashing into the Covenant avenues, they tore trenches up into their purple and metallic surfaces, ripping up the pristine and majestic-looking metal. The Covenant cheered with this small moment of victory, as the GunShips flew away from the complex.

Then they remembered the tanks.

Turning with a few hoots and yelps, they beheld the Tiger's bearing down upon them, their treads far to close for comfort. Rolling into the base, the tanks immediately rumbled over the buildings in their way, their massive bulk and inertia smashing the buildings flat as a pancake. Not bothering to fire now, in close where they could hit each other, the Tank Battalions just optioned to crush the base underfoot and leave the cannon-fire for later.

Smashing over the defensive belt, and running the screaming Covenant underfoot, the Tigers rode through the base. Ramming everything before them, they began wheeling and swerving their tanks, making sure to pull every alien sight underfoot and grind them beneath their treads. The aliens ran in total fear now, breaking completely, and beginning to run in any direction they could as they abandoned all pretense of resistance.

" _Tiger-5, Tiger-34, Tiger-48 take up positions on all three sides of the base and light up any escapee's. We don't want any of the aliens escaping, now do we?"_ Friedrich ordered his commanders, who sent out the tanks listed, and they began rumbling as they spun 180° to face the fleeing and escaping aliens.

" _Tiger-5, situated and firing on-target."_ The first Tiger III got into position, and began targeting the sprinting Unggoy and Kig'Yar.

" _Tiger-34 in position and decimating enemy."_ The second Tiger III arrived, and put the lead out in rapid fashion.

" _Tiger-48 arriving, and firing."_ The third Tiger III took up vigil on the path leading back to the Arcopolis, and let loose it's fury.

 _"All Tiger III's backup to minimum safe-distance, and target that generator and the shield unit."_ Friedrich ordered, with the Colonel and Majors relaying the orders to their contingents. The tanks reversed their engines, and began backing up, rumbling through the smashed and flattened steel. Screeching, the landscape moved out of their way, as they set themselves up to fire.

 _"All Tiger III's, with a 0.01 kiloton round on the generator, **FIRE AT WILL!** "_ The General roared into the comm, with the relaying shouts accompanying, before the _**51**_ _ **st**_ _ **Ultra-Heavy Tank Battalion "Wittman"**_ fired in concert upon the Covenant construct. 57 massive rounds smashed into it's superstructure, rending much of it apart with that alone, before the fury of the fusion rounds burst forth and washed the complex with multiple sub-kiloton detonations.

An awe-inspiring sun formed before the tanks formation, and consumed the structures within a 1km circle, before the energy behind their weapons petered out. When the dust and smoke cleared, they were beholding a crater in the ground where the generator was, removing it's presence from **Valasha's** surface.

" _Begin clean-up. Hunt down all Covenant remnants. I do not want a_ _ **single **__alien getting off of this planet!"_ The General stated through his comms, gazing upon the destruction he had unleashed.

 **-Classical – Richard Wagner – Ride of the Valkyries END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Epic Soul Factory – The Gift of the Gods START-**

 **Planet Kirbyville**

 **Federated Suns**

 **10** **th** **February, 2531**

Captain Cutter watched from an overseer position, as his Supercarrier was repaired, the _**Spirit of Fire**_ in a space-dock amongst multitudes of other ships that were present doing one thing or another. A huge space station that included engineering facilities, the dock facilitated nearly 200 ships along it's height and width.

" **Sir, we have a Terran Hegemony contingent requesting permission to come aboard."** Serina popped up, and began to display a DropShip leaving the atmosphere, having taken off from the StarPort. Cutter acknowledged her, and looked closely at the ship.

 _ **Socrates-Class**_ , the primary workhorse of the Spartan branches Space-Lift capabilities, the same as the Team on Harvest used. A message popped onto his bracer, initiating a video-uplink.

" _I didn't accept a call..."_ Thought the Captain, as he stared at a figure in fatigues with the four-star badge of a general clear upon beret, which was itself set on top of a craggy no-nonsense face that held a strictly brushed moustache.

" _Good day Captain Cutter."_ The figure said in greeting.

"General Shepherd. How were you able to open a channel with me?" The Captain said, saluting the General, who returned it before speaking.

" _I needed your attention for a few minutes, and I don't have time for an appointment, so I overrode the protocol's on your bracer and set up a link. Here's what I need from you son."_ The gruff voice of the stern General overrode any objection Cutter had, as he rolled through the conversation, pushing aside the junior-officers concern.

The flagship of the Fleet they had seen facing the Kuritan's at Valasha. Compared alongside it, were several photos of the same ship at Novo Franklin, and Harvest.

" _This ship has appeared in most major engagements that we have recorded, outperforming our forces whenever we come across it, and ONI has a running theory that there is an extraordinary commander in charge of it."_ Cancelling the picture-evidence, the General leaned forward.

" _It's been cleared with both **SLDF** , and through Spartan Branches, so now you will receive the orders. I won't be taking control of your mission to find the truth of this from the Covenant, but I am authorizing an addendum, and additional forces to be attached."_ A few pictures appeared in short order, listing the units assigned to the _**Spirit's**_ fleet.

" _Your mission, will be to assassinate the commander of that ship, active whenever you come into contact with it."_ Shepherd said with finality.

"Sir, will this be a mission-critical objective?" Cutter asked with a frown appearing on his face. Shepherd raised an eyebrow at the attitude, but said nothing, and answered his question.

" _It will be secondary to your main mission, but it will be a secondary that you will focus on._ _ **HIGHCOMM**_ _wants that skilled commander eliminated."_ The General said, crossing his muscled arms, and fixing the Captain with a stare.

" _Understand, you have a duty to not just the Star League, but to your home to do your duty. War may be dirty sometimes, but what is done by us prevents the tide of filth from washing heavily over our citizens. This operation will subtitled into the main mission as **OPERATION:ALEXANDER**. Are your orders in any way unclear, Captain?"_ The General asked in his stony voice, indicating the conversation was over, and not up for discussion.

"No sir. Understood sir." Cutter answered, and saluted as the General did.

" _Good. General Shepherd, out."_ The man said, and reached forward to shut off his holocaller, disappearing from view. Cutter sighed exasperatedly, and then called **Serina** forth. The AI popped up, frowning as she came into being, and Cutter pointed out the DropShip still on his bracer.

" **I see we will be host to more diversity in the near future. How will affect our mission?"** The AI said, as she brought up the ships logs, searching to see who was commanding.

" **Sir, you might want to see this."** Serina threw a blue ball of light from her staff, where it resolved into a large profile holoscreen, and displayed a grizzled and maned man.

He held a cigar in his grimacing mouth, and an eye-path graced his right eye, hair pulled back by a headband.

"That's Solid Snake. What is Earths most legendary soldier doing with the Spartans, let alone coming on this trip for?" The Captains widened eyes scanned the profile noting everything from age, to service history, to current rank and affiliations.

Councillor of the Megacorporation _**Outer Haven Foundation**_.

Frown growing larger and larger upon his face, Cutter resolved to open a channel with the approaching DropShip.

" **Call established. Receiving acceptance protocol's. Channel up."** Stated Serina, as she worked to contact the _**Socrates-Class**_ , and open contact. Successful in her endeavour, she threw a screen up in place of the bio of the legendary soldier, with a moving face. It showed a little surprise, but assessed him in a calm manner.

" _Captain Cutter, what can I do for you?"_ The gravelly voice of the Councillor grated over the comm line, greeting Cutter with base tones.

"I was wondering if you could fill me on some specifics, as to why you've been assigned to us." The man raised a visible eyebrow, and peered interested at the Captain, who fidgeted nervously as the soldier assessed him.

" _I thought General Shepherd was quite explicit about our directives. What more do you need to know?"_ Solid Snake queried.

Cutter looked hesitant for a moment, before turning to the bracers projection.

"Yes, I understand the mission addendum. What I want to know is why the General of Spartan-Branch assigned it to me, and why they sent one of the Megacorporations people with. Can you give some light to this." Cutter asked, as he kept his eyes trained on the Councillor.

" _Hm. I guess I can tell you the why of our presence._ _ **SLDF**_ _ **HIGHCOMM**_ _has designated the commander of that ship a threat to human space, and wants to ensure we kill whoever is in charge, thus my and this vessel."_ James narrowed his eyes, watching Snake closely.

"How are you supposed to be ensure it's destroyed? The Covenant are no slouch's, and honestly if they possess a competent commander, then we would have to tread lightly even with our weaponry." Snake smirked, and moved a shoulder indicating he was typing something into a console.

A form sprang up, of a tank.

" **That's a SheVa."** Serina stated, tone one of awe.

 _"Indeed it is little lady. What you are looking at is the Shenandoah Valley Mk-IV Land Superiority Unit. Armed with a 16 inch Railcannon, a plethora of secondaries for metal-beasties of smaller size, it's a unit that can wreak total destruction upon the battlefield. Yes sir, Bun-Bun is a machine designed to ruin someones day."_ Snake said with a little bit of amusement in his voice, ringing off the tanks attribute like a sales-pitch.

"You going to use that SheVa to try and assassinate that commander?" Cutter asked the man, and he nodded in ascent.

" _That is the plan. We're going to land upon the next planet, and whatever you go to after that, to try and present a situation where we can use the SheVa to take him out. Given the skills this commander has presented, it is not desirable to engage in direct battle. This gave way to my being assigned to the mission, as there are few better than me when it comes to stealth and planning."_ The last piece fell into place, and Cutter understood.

"I see. You will be conducting your operations to retrieve that data, and I will be trying to bait whatever forces there are into a decisive conflict so you can take it out." Cutter stated, frowning slightly.

It seemed a little dishonourable that anyone should be attacked in such way. Such was war though, and it wasn't fair.

 _"I'm gonna kill that son-of-a-bitch."_ Snake stated grinning, before he winked out, having stated everything he needed to and decided that the conversation was over. Cutter let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, wondering why he was so tense. As he thought back to the conversation, he stalled upon Snake's eye.

There was a weariness there. Wisdom mixed with regret. It seemed that even as Snake talked to them in a jovial tone of voice, he projected the aura of what he truly was, it being impossible to disguise completely even with a laid back attitude. The man had seen so many battles and wars, being one of the few to survive since humanities greatest changes, and nobody knew how. Cutter never believed that himself, but when he felt the gaze of the Greatest Soldier of All Time fall upon his person, he instinctually knew they were all true. You couldn't hide that stare, and Cutter was adept at spotting fakers from his time in _**HAF**_.

 _ **HIGHCOMM**_ was afraid enough, to send one of their greatest resources, to end this commander and stop his escapades so humanity would get a chance to possibly reinforce the frontier and hopefully mount an offensive. Cutter rubbed his chin in thought, now trying to think how they would execute their mission.

Especially when he was sure that the Covenant were ahead of them this time.

" **Captain, I've let the station know that we will need the parts for maintenancing the SheVa, and keeping it operational. They have notified us that we will be receiving special munitions, that need a separate space set aside in the nuclear magazines."** Serina raised an eyebrow, trying to go through the encryption, but being rebuffed. The file blinked with a red string of numerals, reading **ACCESS DENIED** , before it glowed blue and opened after several red flashes.

"What is going to need space?" Cutter asked, and waited as **Serina** paused. _"_ _Strange."_ Thought the Captain.

" **The Terran contingent is bringing aboard 16 inch shells... That contain antimatter charges within."** Serina said in with a little bit of awe in her voice. Cutters eyebrows shot towards his hairline. Being that it had been a while since he had been in the Hegemony, considering he had never stopped serving and joined the **Star League** as soon as it was formed. So honestly, he had no access to the advances happening at home.

"That is a surprising fact. I didn't know home had started to manufacture Anti-matter. It's a surprise to me, I haven't heard any news about it, but it is unsurprising that the first example I get to see is in the form of the weapon." Cutter grated out, and slowly turned and began walking to a service shuttle. Having been away from Terra for a long time, and serving with the Star League on many goodwill and diplomatic missions, Cutter was disappointed when he saw his home nation keeping such an intriguing discovery to themselves.

Despite their advancements since the beginning of the 24th Century, Cutter did not fully believe they were back to the level that they had been at during the Golden Age of Democracy, as he had ascertained when reading about the alliance that had set aside their difference s in the 21st Century so they could take on various threats. They had shared the technological bounty, and each had contributed to the burden of producing units for the _Kaiju Invasions_ , and _Tiberium Conflicts._ , among other lesser conflicts. Even with the advent of the _**Fourth World War**_ , the nations had still dealt fairly with each other after the war.

As far as he was concerned, the nations of humanity had yet to gain back the respect for the individuals right to have a say in the governance of their nation, as they were far to strict with the meritocratic nobility most realms had. Cutter firmly believed in the right a man had to vote, and that the populations of the nation-states should be represented, so they could have a more effective hand in it's governing. The Star League was a step in the right direction, and Cutter held their beliefs quite close to his heart, being intelligent enough to make an informed decision as a young man. However, he knew the reality of living in the Terran Hegemony, and until he had taken his commission into the SLDF had kept his beliefs to himself. Once exposed to the Star League culture, he experienced the realms of the Inner Sphere, and saw that there was possibility of people cooperating with nobles as he had seen in the Periphery Realms.

Cutter continued think on this, as he boarded the service-shuttle, making his way to his Supercarrier. The _ **SLS Spirit of Fire**_ hung in the void just outside the star-docks, people scrambling all over, and replacing parts.

Arriving in the hanger, he saluted and thanked the pilot, before making his way into the ship. The Captain headed for the ships magazine, keen to see the safeties in place for the antimatter, and hoping to run into a certain someone. Entering the bay, he looked around, beholding the bustling activity as loaders moved on designated path a intermediate paces and bringing munitions to different areas. Slowing and stopping when someone crossed their path, the people all struggled to complete various tasks. Climbing a ladder to a balcony that ringed the Armoury, Cutter quickly ascended and made his way to the transparasteel-paneled Quartermaster's area.

Nodding to the officer in charge of the supply, he came to a stop at a terminal displaying the incoming inventory.

"Is there any files coming in on the special munitions?" The Captain turned to the Quartermaster, to ask him about the new arrivals. Holding a datapad, the man was a surly, wrinkled, and frowning old officer who squinted at the Captain before shaking his head.

"Nothing sir. The only thing that they've given me, when I asked about what paperwork they had to support such a transfer, they gave me sheaf of paper that amounted to this. They are proprietary antimatter rounds, and the transfer order was digital, before they brought a stack of papers for everyone who has to handle or watch them and said if they wanted access they had to sign. Even then, it was just a transfer that protected what we're handling. Anti-Matter... Didn't think I would see that in my time." The grouchy old man replied in a biting voice, annoyed at all the extra people invading his armoury, and messing up his procedures and paperwork.

"It's Ok Captain. I'll explain everything." The sound of a door opening then a voice interrupted their thoughts. The two looked over to the source, the Quartermaster giving the stink-eye, and the Captain narrowing his eyes slightly. Wearing a light armour suit, that seemed to simulate muscle, with several tactical attachments and weapons the colours black and grey. The eye patch was obvious, and the cigar glowed a dull red as it's owner puffed upon it.

"The munitions you have received, are the result of top-secret experiments. With the necessary personnel being of a number higher than we want knowing the truth of the matter, the Megacorporation Council and Terran Hegemony felt we should only brief those in charge. Technically, we could've never told you and just kept it all the SheVa, but that would undercut our mission-viability during this bit of travelling the Stars." Snake held up two locked binders, and gave them to the men. He motioned for them to place a hand upon the surface, and as they did, a visible line of energy went from top to bottom and scanned their hands. As the binders locks clicked open, the two began to peruse it's contents, only to find a holopad bolted to the innards. A screen popped up, and it displayed a circle, and a prompt that said [Lean forward for Brainwave&Retinal Scan] in a small box.

Looking at each other, Cutter and the Quartermaster did as instructed, with a scanning wave projected from the pad sizing them up through their known brain-patterns and eyes. Accepted, the pad began to display the information they were looking for. Snake spoke up as they began to pour through the material, reading all about the experimentation and prototyping of the Antimatter.

"Now, these pads will only display this extent of the information about the rounds here. When you are not near me and I am not consenting, they will only display the safety procedures for handling them and such. This is to prevent any reverse-engineering underneath the provision of the _Mother Doctrine_ , you understand, which is still in affect when it comes to our higher-technologies." Snake addressed them both seriously, and appeared to be studying them, as he waited for a reply. Both nodded after a few seconds of silence, so Snake continued.

"Alright. Now, my troops will be fine interacting with the **_SLDF's_** , they understand the need for low-key behaviour, so don't worry about them. We'll make sure to stay out of your hair, and keep our noses clean. Now, onto the rounds themselves, we want them stored in your best radiation compartment, as they are fine for the time being... But can detonate should they be hit. With that said, we need to ensure they are the last possible thing that could be hit during a naval engagement." Solid Snake said, as he dragged on his cigar, staring both officers down.

"Why such a level of secrecy? We should be sharing these revelatory discoveries with our Star League allies!?" Cutter stated, going through the production methods for the rounds, and how it related to the safety systems. Snake smirked.

"Thought you'd ask that. Cutter you have to be little more careful with your actions. I could just tell you to shut the hell up, and do as you are ordered, but I believe in intelligence upon the battlefield and the execution of supplying the fight. Now with that said, it is only by the Mother Doctrine that the Terran Hegemony keep lead in the race between the Great Houses, allowing us to perform any operation in the last 130 years with advancements and advantage over our enemies from that time. That being said, if the continued cooperation between the nations keeps up at a stable pace, we will have to reconsider this bit of the law. Humanity is slowly approaching the point where it can handle greater technological responsibilities, and liberties." The Captain nodded, and found the Quartermaster nodding along.

"Good. I understand that my presence isn't the most welcome, but it doesn't mean that I won't be of assistance, and ensure that the most senior leadership knows the truth. Unfortunately, even I'm bound by our laws, and this was all I could get for this mission and even then the Council was leery about sending such assistance. Ultimately we decided that the threat posed by this particular Alien, was enough that I could get this tank, soldiers, and munitions. Understand that the Council wasn't even considering going after him, until I suggested it based on the behavioural patterns this aliens showed, and made a convincing argument for using a SheVa to blast him to pieces." Snake grimaced with his cigar in his mouth, nearly sneering at the two, but just turning out to be angry with a few things(aliens, the Councillors, Terra, the list goes on as to what Snake was pissed about).

"So... Your aid is more than we were ever supposed to get?" Cutter said, rubbing his chin with a weathered hand, while the other supported it.

"Yes. I provided the impetus for **_OPERATION:ALEXANDER_** , and got it assessed for a fair success rating with the mainframe, and they supported my plan. I wanted more, but they stated that I was good enough to succeed alongside the unit. Thus, here I am, briefing you two fine gentleman. Now, is that good enough?" Narrowing his one visible eye, the soldier peered into each of the officers facing.

Both of them nodded.

"Alright, now here is how the rounds have to be transported..."

 **-Epic Soul Factory – The Gift of the Gods END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Caverns Goldeneye OO7 Guitar Cover START-**

 **Federated Suns**

 **Planet Ottumwa**

 **12** **th** **February**

Arbiter Xytan Jar Wattinree stared at the planet below. He had wiped out the defence fleet, and blasted the population to ashes, and immediately set his troops to searching for the Forerunner installation below the planets surface. Taking some time, they had penetrated fairly deep by now, and he was awaiting a report from the excavation team on their updated progress.

His crystal armrest beeped, and resolved into a screen that spread around his throne, showing nothing but blackness and dead audio to those around him. They continued about their business, as such a thing was a regular occurrence.

The Prophet of Regret, Hierarch of the Covenant, stared back. Finally, he smiled, and nodded with Xytan nodding to him.

" _Greetings old friend. I'm told you are making progress on our little relic issue. Please enlighten me."_ Regret stated without preamble, quickly asking for information in the search for relics.

"I am penetrating the inner chamber where information is held Hierarch, and I will have the information for the next planet, ahead of anything the humans possess." Xytan stated, as he gazed upon the San'Shyuum.

Regret sighed, before his chair turned, and began to wander across a bridge. Sangheili Honour-Guard stood on each side, nary moving a muscle, as they held a position of salute when the Hierarch floated by. Xytan's view followed, probably bobbing in the air beside the Prophet as he moved along in his Gravity Throne.

The room was seemingly without end, and clouds floated in the distance. The floor was translucent, and a bottom could not be seen. Regret gestured off into the distance, where Sword-shaped towers of enormous height stood, majestically set against the whites and blacks of cloud and shadow that hung in the background...

" _This world, is the key to our victory over the humans. It holds secrets of the Ancients. The Holy Forerunners bless us with their bounty, and have rewarded the faithful with it's presence in Covenant space."_ Regret said reverently, bowing when he mentioned the Forerunners, and Xytan did as well but held in a snort.

He had seen how Forerunner technology reacted to a Human presence. He would get to the bottom of it, of his own accord.

"Hierarch, it is but a dead world, long claimed by the ravages of time. I'm sure if we studied the remains, then we could learn enough to increase the ship production that we have." Xytan said smoothly, finishing even when the firebrands face twisted into a snarl.

 _"BLASPHEMY! No, this place must remain undisturbed until we learn how to activate it. The campaign we are conducting will need far more ships than we can currently muster for an assault."_ The Prophet said, before running a hand over his head, and turning about to a console he had arrived at on the end of the bridges length.

"Then I will take what we have." Xytan stated darkly, leaning forward while clenching his claws together in a raised fist.

 _"AND LEAVE US DEFENSELESS! I am sorry my friend, it's just that the stress of manoeuvring around that piece of Yan'me shit Truth is hard on my mind, and he continues with his games even though we must prosecute this war TOGETHER!"_ The distressed Hierarch ended up roaring again, shaking his hands in fury, as he slammed them into the console.

Xytan watched bemusedly. It was certainly interesting to watch a so-called Noble Hierarch have a mental breakdown. Oh well, it would just make it easier to manipulate him.

"I know my friend. I am conducting this search with all speed available, and now we are ahead of the humans. This means my lead will only increase from here on out. Do not worry, Lod, we will be there with the key before you know it. Then Truth will acknowledge your greatness, and Mercy will have no choice, but to agree with your points of view when we win this glory for the Covenant!" Xytan's voice reassured the distressed San'Shyuum. He nodded slowly.

 _"Hurry back Arbiter."_ With that said, the Hierarch ended the transmission, and Wattinree's post lit up once more and was visible to the others in the centre.

 **-Caverns Goldeneye OO7 Guitar Cover END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Brütal Legend – Through The Fire And Flames START-**

 **14** **th** **February**

 **Planet Ottumwa**

 **Federated Suns**

 **Nadir Jump Point**

The Star League burst from the harsh and mesmerizing blue of Slipspace's higher dimension. Within, they were pulling a significant flotilla along. Nearly 53 vessels had reinforced the small Star League fleet, bringing it up to strength, and filling out the destroyed commands they had, which brought their number to 58 including the flagship.

Now, they were being accompanied by one of the few Terran great-ships, the _**Dreadnought-Class**_. Having the prestigious history of having changed naval standards and power balances during both era's they were launched in, the Terran Hegemony had kept the class name, infinitely annoying those who respected the proud naval tradition and legacy the FedSuns had in the British Empire.

6km long, carrying no fighters, and constructed with the latest technology, it carried a Railcannon that fired 600 tonne rounds. The heaviest mounted on ship ever, it was the largest the structure could take firing, as Newtonian laws still came into effect when they hurled as super-dense ferric uranium slug at 0.004% the speed of light.

The ship had 400 dedicated missile-tubes, half each set aside for new-gen Barracuda-E's, and Killer-Whale-C's. The newest versions of these missiles were updated with greater kill-shot abilities against the Covenant enemy that humanity faced, the Barracuda's able to drive into and smash up Seraphs, Spirits and Phantoms, while the Killer Whales were improved to strike against the Covenant ships with newer tactics and approach's. A Killer Whale had 60 odd tonnes of frame and machine to it, so changing things around, and adding types had proven to be interesting for the _**HRAD**_ ( _ **Hegemony Research and Development**_ ) making for some fun times in the lab.

Alongside the vast amount of missile-tubes and the size of it's cannon, the _**Dreadnought**_ possessed a bevy of 30 NL55's and 22 XLNPPC's. Their pulse laser array was combined with a RAC-5 on all turrets, providing lead backup to all the energy batteries. The ship was a symbol of Terran might.

Accompanying them, was of course the _**Spirit of Fire**_ , a _**SLDF**_ Supercarrier. 5 Lyran 3.3km _**Odhinn-Class**_ Carriers, 8 Terran 3.5km _**Potemkin-Class**_ Battleships, 10 Combine 1.9km _**Stewart-Class**_ Battlecruisers, 15 FedSuns 1.3km _ **Grail-Class**_ Cruisers, and 20 FreeWorlder 600m _**Sabre-Class**_ Destroyers.

The enemy fleet held 18, just like it did when they left the airspace of **Valasha**.

"Aright people, let's make our way in system, and take this planet from the Covenant. We don't want them to be glassing a garden world this deep in our territory." Glassing was a term picked up in the last five years, as the worlds the Covenant didn't want, they coated with plasma until it was uninhabitable without serious terraforming. Cutter gave the warning on the channel that was linked across the fleet, making sure they understood the gravity of the situation.

Cutter of course thought that the Covenant wouldn't dare hurt their artifacts, and was right in doing so right now, considering their behaviour. The spectre of plasma bombardment may push his subordinates to just try that much harder.

" **Sir, reports indicate the Covenant finished exterminating the population two days ago. They have been digging into the site where the Forerunner's placed an installation, in the southern polar ice cap, upon a series of glacier mountains." Serina** brought up a display, that showed footage of the Covenant assaulting the cities and inhabitants population, cutting them down before switching to a view of the South Pole of **Ottumwa**. Whereupon, she indicated a formation that was set into a local valley and boxed in by the high-peaks.

The Covenant were set up near one side, various bits of heavy equipment sitting around, and flashes of light occasionally becoming visible from it's entrance.

"Alright Serina, get our troops to deploy, and inform Councillor Snake. We'll conduct the battle in the skies above, and he will fight on the ground below." Serina nodded, and glowed before a mote of light burst from her form over cyberspace, in the format of a message and orders.

"All ships full ahead, and begin engaging the Covenant."

Moving forward, and beginning the charge for position, the human fleet moved in towards the planet. They needed to access it, and drop their troops without problems, otherwise they wouldn't have any chance of completing their objectives.

" _Why are they holding position..."_ Cutter wondered to himself, as he observed the advance to contact against the enemy Covenant Fleet. Rumbling along in near-silence, Cutter began to get nervous, as the Covenant's ships stayed motionless. Even as they entered maximum weapons range(for their ships Energy-Projector, and Plasma-Energy-Projector), the enemies ships awaited their arrival.

Just as they began entering weapons range, he felt a chill enter his spine, and it chased up all the way to his brain leaving it with pinpricks of anticipation.

"Fire all weapons. Make sure each ship is covered thoroughly, I don't want them getting away." James ordered, and had sent down the line, watching carefully.

The barrage of missiles opened up from all the various ships. The slowest to advance, they would arrive just as the navy's railgun rounds, lasers, and PPC hit, timed by networked ship-AI. The enemy ships remained where they were, not making a movement. Next, the **_SLDF_** launched their Railcannon's of various calibre, sending the heavily-weighted slugs through space where they tore so silvery streaks through it's void.

The Covenant continued to remain motionless, and gave no indication of even powering their ships.

The humans waited for the weapons-fire to get closer, and just as they began firing, the AI lit up with warnings of reactor-spikes all across their front scanning range. Once the AI relayed their warnings, the ship Captains began scrambling, and trying to ascertain what the Covenant was doing.

"Serina, what are the Covenant up to?!" The Captain questioned his companion/assistant. The AI frowned as she worked, brow working as she sifted through data and signals.

" **I am reading a significant energy-spike in the main reactors of their fleet. All of it seems to go to their shields, and it's interfering with my scans as it builds."** The AI spoke, and turned to the Captain to say something, before flashes of lights lit up the enemies positions.

" **Their entering Slipspace Captain!"** Warned the intelligence as she tried to get a handle on where they were going. The ships entered their slipspace portals, and the weapons-fire from the enemy humans screeched by, filling empty space with their fury.

500,000 kilometre's off their left flank, the Covenant's ships emerged from the blue of Slipspace, whereupon they began to let loose torpedo fire.

"Get the fleet reoriented, and assign fighters and weapons onto those torpedoes. I want weapons-fire on those ships five minutes ago." Cutter gritted out, as he watched the Covenant unleash fire with impunity.

" **Captain, their entering slipspace again!"** The AI stated worriedly

With an incredulous star, Cutter watched the alien ships enter FTL again, and emerge 305° in accordance to their position as they were facing the planet. The first emergence occurred at 180°. The Captain watched with eyes wide, as the ships exited their portals again, putting his fleet in an extremely disadvantageous position.

The 38 ships launched their torpedoes again, and watched as the humans struggled to evade the first barrage, and reorient to a firing position where they could start engaging the Covenant. Cutter grimaced as the ship swung around, and fired their lasers at the incoming projectiles menacing their flanks and rear.

With a series of emergency manoeuvre's, the human fleet pulled their ships around, and began to draw a bead upon the Covenant's ships. Getting their firing solutions going, the AID and fire-control of the ships cooperated and grunted out equations, getting the weapons ready to fire and firing on the available targets. Firing at the torpedoes approaching from the former right, now left flank, the humans unleashed lasers upon the incoming blue-white projectiles of capital-death. The ships miniature-ion jets pushed the humans fleet into a proper position, whereupon they began to unload their weapons upon the Covenant, trying to pin them down.

Railcannon, Missiles, Lasers, PPC all flew at the enemy disregarding any pretense of a coordinated assault. The cannons of humanity barked, spitting sapphire starbursts of deadly ion/protons, their muzzles sending emerald-beams of long-streaked death at the enemy. Missiles roared out, and began to cross the gulf to the Covenant line, readying their munitions and internal mechanism.

The Covenant launched a second wave of plasma torpedoes.

Once again, when their weapons got within range, the Covenant fleet jumped again.

" _Serina, is there any way we can stop this!?"_ The AI began to work furiously, from a visual point of view, and began pulling up the Covenant ship statistics she could access.

" **It appears that is it, as their Slipspace drives are overheated and have shut down. Their reactors are slightly strained, having exhausted quite a bit of power to maintain that manoeuvre."** The AI stated, as she observed the readouts and such on the Covenant Fleet.

"Damnit I hope so."

" **Captain we are receiving a transmission."** The Captains left eyebrow reached towards his hairline, as he surprised someone would be contacting them right now. Nodding at Serina to accept, he was surprised when the purple glow of a Covenant ships bridge, showing various shadowed beings sitting upon consoles and thrones.

" ** _Human. You have fought well. You are now surrounded by incoming death, and possess little options for victory. Give me what I want, surrender, and I will make sure you meet an honourable death on a terrestrial world. Refuse me, and I will glass a hundred worlds for your presumption to stall me. The choice is yours."_** The transmission shut off.

Cutter stared at the holoscreen, showing the incoming barrage's of torpedoes, and thinking about the offer he had been given. Watching the blue-white torpedoes approaching, and thinking on what his death would accomplish or prevent, Cutter stared off for a few seconds.

He resolved himself, as he looked over at his AI, deciding that it would be even more catastrophic if whoever on that ship got what they were after in Forerunner ruins. Fighting and fighting hard would prevent more deaths than he would prevent by dieing.

"Serina, send this message to the Covenant leader. _"_ _To the honourable Covenant Commander:NUTS!"_ Send it, I don't care if he understands it." The Captain stated while standing at-ease with his hands interlocked, looking off into the distance at the Covenant ships once again by the planets atmosphere.

"Relay that conversation to the other ships, inform them of the threat we were given. Inform them that we must win, despite these odds. Otherwise the consequences will be dire for human-held space." Cutter said, gazing steadfastly at the holoscreen's.

" **Yes sir!"** The AI said with enthusiasm, as she sent his orders to the other commands.

 **-Brütal Legend – Through The Fire And Flames END-**

 **BattleTech Wars**

 **Part 2**

 **Ottumwa I**

 _~End~_

 **AUTHOR NOTE** **:** First cliffhanger! The human expedition fleet now faces a surrounding barrage of plasma torpedoes, and a foe who is more skilled than any Covenant they know. In the background, enter Solid Snake, whose mission is to assassinate the Arbiter himself, and the appearance of the super-tanks. Enjoy, read and review please!

As to why the Forerunner installations are commonplace, when I edited chapter four, I placed some notes there on comparative tech and such, and how the Forerunners and Alterans existed in certain areas, with the Alteran territory being a crescent that begins at Earth, goes left and wraps around the Galaxy to Abydos. The Forerunners inhabit a large bulge, and as well hold the south for the most art, until they took over the Alteran worlds after the war. They made many line-installations due to having a slightly better time during the Flood-Forerunner war(as here they constructed all 12 originally planned Halo's, and several other mega-projects) and were able to construct more line-installations for their inheritors(Iso-Didact having a plan that interacts with the

 _ **Valkyrie GunShip**_ \- Stormraven GunShip, painted Lyran colours, with the weapons they would have hear rather than 40k.

 _ **Fenris Tank**_ \- Pretty much a 40k Leman Russ tank, with the side-sponsons of the Predators.

 _ **Tiger Drei**_ \- Supertank built by the Lyrans. In it's original story, it had a freaking _Natural Gas Engine_ , MBA Armour(Molybdenum-Boron-Aluminium), and an inertial-dampened 305mm naval gun. It was able to effectively clear the skies of Germany of invading forces, and take out a significant contingent of the alien Posleen with it's antimatter munitions and several other special weapons.

Effective in the end of the Age of War when it was used to assault a troublesome world held by the Jade Emperor, Maximilian Liao, it made a stamp on history when it showed that the way of the tank was not dead just yet. Of course, it was extremely rare to see them in the LCAF, until the Covenant War highlighted them again, upon which it was discovered that the Lyrans and Terrans fielded large Ultra-Heavy Tank Battalions. Attempts begin to be put into prototype and testing by all powers.

Being about a little taller than the Red Skull's Supertank in the Captain America: The First Avenger(visual aid), it is boxier, possessing a powerful and angular turret, which stabilizes the gun and house the inertial dampener's that prevent it's powerful recoil from ripping the gun from the massive bearing ring that holds the turret to the chassis. It is a pure spectre of death on the battlefield, and it's appearance signifies apocalyptic destruction to it's opponents, a force of nature that is unstoppable.

The gunners and commanders voices for the Tiger III's are the Tiger Tank voices from Company of Heroes. Giant tanks deserve thick, ruthless, Deutsche accents!

You'll see the SheVa next chapter, a la A-Team...

 _ **OPERATION ALEXANDER-**_ Named for Alexander the Great, and is aimed at making whoever the commander they keep facing die a death that will stop his commanders from proceeding further into human space. Decapitation strike, using the Terran technological superiority, and loaned Megacorporation assets like Solid Snake.

 **Review Section** -

Just a Crazy-Man- Thanks for reviewing my friend, your loyalty is important to me. Thanks for the review.

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Writers rely on reviews to keep a story going, despite all my posturing about how I'm gonna do this no matter the opposition. Kindly leave a review and don't be afraid to say something.

As well, for my current readers, I've added content to the previous chapters(equalized the first three to the codex). Have fun reading the new parts, choice bits that they are.

Peace and positivity be with y'all!


	11. Chapter 11

**Mantle Across A Starry League**

 **Disclaimer** : I own no franchise or original content that appears within. They belong to their creator's, and owners.

 **Summary** : Megaverse. A grand vision, on how Mass Effect, and others will be affected by a humanity forged from the influences of 1980's-2000's Sci-Fi and such. Prepare for BattleMech's, Powered Armour's, Fusion, Energy Weapons, Psychics, Magics, and more. How will the Citadel deal with a humanity that has seen and has Cyborgs, Super-Soldiers, BattleMech's, WarShips, with more to come?

 **Chapter 11-BattleTech Wars:Part 2-Ottumwa II**

" _Few of us are given the opportunity, even fewer the courage to sacrifice ourselves for the lives of our comrades. In daily life, even as in battle each one of us is mysteriously and irrevocably bound to our fellow man. And yet, it is only in death that the power of this bond is finally tested and proven. And who among us really knows how he might respond when the moment comes?"-The President of the United States_

 **-M. Bison Theme [Arrange] – Hyper Street II: The Anniversary Edition Music Extended START-**

 **Federated Suns**

 **Planet Ottumwa Outer Orbit**

 **14** **th** **February, 2531**

Captain James Cutter barked out commands, as plasma exploded all around the human fleet, and hit the ships of the _**SLDF's**_ expedition fleet. The humans were in a dire position, as they faced the incoming energy-projectiles from multiple directions, trying to desperately get into more advantageous firing positions and destroy the threats. Their engines strained as they increased output rapidly, their reactors going into a red-line state, turning about as they brought weapons to bear.

"Get the fighters out there to attack those torpedoes. Use fusion weapons if necessary, just get those pilots to clear those rounds from our kill-box." He ordered, as the _**Spirit**_ swung about, addressing the ships AI Serina. She nodded, even as completing the complex functions of aiding the ship's manoeuvre took up her attention, with a pulse of blue light flying from her form off into the distance of cyberspace.

The fighters began scrambling to get into groups, and began patters to the two barrages at 305°, sending a smaller contingent towards the ones incoming from 180°. Moving like the devil himself was on their tail, the fighters pushed their engines to after-burn, punching out 3x their previous thrust and accelerating to 112 G's.

"Get the Destroyers out there now, we can hold off the big ships if they fire a barrage of missiles, and take down the torpedoes with the fighter screens." Cutter ordered rapidly, viewing the enemies changing position, and his fleet manoeuvring to fire upon their closest threats. Serina nodded, and sent a bevy of messages to the AI of the Destroyers, getting their attention even when they too were completing their own tasks and firing at the closer torpedoes on the right flank with their lasers.

The Destroyers accelerated and split into two groups that faced the the enemies barrages. Almost 1,000 rounds were incoming, as each of the 38 Covenant ships had fired an average of 8 per barrage, having launched three in total. 900+ headed to the exposed flanks of the humans. Pushing their own Fusion Drives hard, the Destroyers gunned their engines and reactors, arming and charging weapons as they sprinted on their vector towards the lethal blue-white projectiles.

The _**Potemkin's**_ , _**Odhinn's**_ , _**Stewart's**_ , all began to group up, and opened fire on the Covenant ranks.23 ships alongside the _**Spirit of Fire**_ lit up with flash's, hurling death to the aliens. Emerald green beams blinked out of their optical devices, searing across the void with the power of agitated photons saturated in radiation, hitting the shields of the enemy. Their silvery shields shimmered, taking beams in a flurry, most of their ships hi by 8-10 NL55's. PPC's charged their deadly payloads, focusing and concentrating the Ion/Proton packet, before sending it down-range at lightspeed. The brilliant sapphire-blue projectiles sizzled through the void, their globules impacting the enemy, and causing further strain upon the emitters.

The Covenant began to fire back, as their fleets energy-projector and plasma-projectors began to fire up, slowly building energy as their reactors had been strained by the complex slipspace manoeuvre they had just pulled. Their energy levels climbed slowly, as the reactors stabilized their output, trying to climb it's output while feeding the other systems. Managing the energy levels between various systems, the commanders kept their defensive shields up, getting their long-range guns to charge in a way that wouldn't put them at risk.

The Human fleet fire their cannon's, letting loose with various tonnes of super-dense material, their ships shuddering as the spinal-mounts fired. With a burst of electricity, and a massive whoosh, the tonnes of ferric-uranium sent out into space at 0.004% lightspeed leaving a silver-white streak effect in the void. The rounds sped at the enemy, unfeeling spectre's of death, as they moved towards the Covenant ships.

The carrier forces on the human side began firing now, adding their weight of fire to the salvo, letting loose with their larger energy-weapon collections. Dozens of lasers, and PPC soared through the void, trying to impact in between the scant few shavings of a seconds when the Railcannon's shots would arrive and they would. Considering they were microseconds apart, it was well-timed by the gunners and AID's on the human side, allowing for a spectacular display of fireworks.

The ships that were hit, 13 of them rebuffed the rounds with a massive display of shield strength, before bursting like bubbles as the strain proved to be too much. The Railcannon rounds were stripped of most of their kinetic energy from the shields rebuff, but still impacted the ships line. Not making much of an impact, they hit the the hulls of the Covenant with resounding thuds, kapwinging off into the void. Immediately, the ships were lit up with energy-bolts from the emerald bursts, and capital-class PPC's.

Biting into the unfortunate Covenant ships, they ripped apart sections of armour, fused electronics and sensors while the hulls were exposed. It was at this point the enemy fired their cannons, releasing streams of plasma upon the humans.

With the Destroyers, they began to take up their positions just as the two fleets opened fire upon each other. They began to designate targets that were closest, emitting sparkling emerald laser beams, and sending Proton/Ion projectiles towards the lazily moving plasma torpedoes. Fighters marked the projectiles, using a lazing device their machines had for calling in artillery barrages, and AI on the ships responded by absorbing their targeting data and reworking it for use in their firing-solutions.

Energy lashed into the great blue-white whales, as they zoomed towards the human vessels. Beams of energy knifed into them, ripping material away with the strength of energized photons, their emerald glow apparent as they blasted through and caused material to splash away with their rampant impact. Bolts of sapphire splashed into the torpedoes, discharging their energy into the constructs and their own electromagnetic field, brilliant protons and ions ricocheting into the ionized gas particles energetically. Miniature fissures erupted from the torpedoes, as the PPC's inherent destabilization ability caused their torpedoes fields to fluctuate, and release the fury of the compressed plasma within for a moment.

The fighters that were close enough, opened up with their own weapons-fire, beginning to target the ripple's in the lazy blue constructs. With the brilliant discharge of electromagnetic energy, they too added their own PPC's to the fight in a barrage. Torpedoes began to explode along the line, in both groups, as their fields were pierced by a combination of effects. The weakening of the field, the escape of plasma here-and-there, and concentrated barrage upon the weak spots caused them to weaken to the point where plasma fissure throughout the surface of the projectiles before erupting like a planet who's core had blown it's top.

Making the pilots in the fighters clench their jaws, as the multiple detonations sent shockwaves into space, which petered out rapidly in the vacuum. The brilliant plasma sent out it's deadly payload in a multi-direction spray, as the torpedoes that had been hit prematurely detonated. Cheering a bit, the troops continued to focus, as there were still quite a few coming at them, getting ever closer. The first barrage wave was half-knocked out, leaving around 150 torpedoes coming at the Destroyers.

Back with the other battle-line, the Covenant ships unleashed their beam-weapons, taking a strip out of the human vessels hides. The Energy projector of the Supercarrier lit up, and a certain Captain on an _**SLDF's**_ ship eyes widened, before giving orders quickly.

" **Serina** , activate emergency thrusters on our port-side!" The Captain stated tersely, watching the ship build power through the sensors and it's visible lines that were lighting up. The AI nodded, and soon the ship had jolted to the right, as the Covenant's overwhelming weapon opened up at them. Missing by scant dozens of metres, the beam flared through space, it's brilliant silver-white majesty roaring across the infinite black abyss.

The _**Dreadnought**_ that accompanied them fired it's Railcannon now, having built up charge enough to launch the 600 tonne round at ridiculous speeds, while it unleashed a barrage of 400 anti-fighter missiles and capital-class _Killer-Whale-C's_. The massive round screamed through space, and slammed into the _**CSO**_ , at near sub-relativistic speeds. The Supercarriers shields glowed extremely bright, but refused to fall. Within a burst of seconds, the missiles arrived into the Supercarriers kill-box, slamming into it's shielded and guarded surface. Just as they did, the _**Dreadnought**_ fired it's 22 XLNPPC's, and 30 NL55's. Flaring brightly across the black of space, they met the carriers energy field, and overwhelmed it in concert with the missiles it had launched.

The fury of hydrogen bursting forth from it's casing in a pure-fusion detonation made the Captain happy, knowing they would be soon rid of the most overwhelming of their enemy.

However, when the dust cleared and dissipated, the enemy ship was still in one piece. Visuals up close showed that it's skin was rumpled, and look slagged in a few areas. Cutter shook his head in amazement. For the Covenant's inadequacy, they made a hell of a ship.

Light glowed within it's maw once more, and a lance of energy belched at the **Terran** _ **Dreadnought**_. Slicing into the ship, even as it cycled it's weapons, the shot hit the behemoth on the lower left mid-ship starboard. With an echoing rending of metal, the beam punctured through the tough armour belt even as the thick construct tried to shed the incoming energy. Undeterred, the fusion level plasma in the beam shredded and liquefied the matter that stood in it's path.

Slashing through the 6km _**Dreadnought's**_ structure before winking out, the Energy-Projector wounded the ship critically. Luckily, the beam missed the internal magazines, but cut through the primary conducting and capacitance system on the starboard. The ship rumbled, and power lines on the starboard blinked furiously a few times, before going dead completely. The reactor compensated, and altered it's output and distribution system, as the ship recoiled from the strike.

The human line of ships fired their Railcannon's again, striving to overcome and eliminate their opposition before the dreaded projectors opened up once more. Their ships rumbled and ejected multi-tonne slugs, before beginning firing solutions for the energy cannons, holding their missiles in a ready to fire prepared state. The rounds streaked through space, splashing the enemy targets with megatonne-level firepower, working hard to eliminate them. The rounds eliminated the shields protecting the Covenant's ships, dissipating the hastily raised barrier even as they recharged and sprang into place. With that said, the energy-bolts had followed the heavy-weighted slugs in, and peppered the surface of the aliens vessels. They ripped up sections with laser fire, and the PPC's struck with discharge of EMP(negated by the Covenant's hulls for the most part, hardened against the discharge from their own plasma weapons-fire), the energy crackling across the enemy armour as the Ions and Protons blasted through the tough plate.

The Destroyers concurrently began to launch another barrage of lasers and PPC-fire at the incoming torpedoes. Lashing out, the lasers hit upon them first, and this time the fighters opened fire in time to continue stressing the torpedo casings, and watched as the sapphire globes of PPC's came upon the enemy fire. The brilliantly blue and slow moving hazardous objects shuddered, and several more detonated.

Unfortunately, by this time...

The torpedoes were upon the two firing lines, amongst the vessels. 62 Torpedoes were now trying to kill their ships with incoming vectors, right inside the kill-box, with the Destroyers raining a continuous cycle of vicious energy-bolts upon the projectiles menacing their positions. With the close-quarters nature now involved, the vessels struggled to put out the fire before it got too close, and destroyed them all.

With explosion after explosion, the torpedoes detonated in fury, releasing their payloads upon the abyss or driving deep into their structures before unleashing their plasma-energy. Destroyers fell, even as hundreds of fighters ran about, trying desperately to cut down the capital-class firepower, before it minced their destroyer-screen.

The Destroyers survived, with 2 of their number left on the right flank, and 3 on the left. The second barrage of torpedoes was making it's way in, and they were closer than when the humans opened fire upon the first wave, making them in a more disadvantageous position for the humans than ever before. The Destroyer-screen's began to perform various manoeuvre's, the right one burning towards it's kin, while the left side reversed engines and began moving backwards at an intermediate pace.

Accelerating as fast as they could, the two _**Sabre-Class's**_ rocketed towards their FreeWorlder brethren, getting targeting solutions ready for when they got into range. Re-positioning, the left flank moved as one in a full-reverse motion, firing their weapons upon the incoming multitudes. The two ships racing in, observed the sea of blue-white getting closer and closer to their brethren biting their teeth as they sprinted to get their weapons into effective range.

Whittling down the torpedoes numbers, the 3 Destroyers on the left fired uninterrupted, letting loose bright bolts of death. Their FreeWorlder brethren from the right-flank watched with horror, as the barrage overtook their comrades. Getting a signal from them, they witnessed the ships ejecting every missile they could fire, and dumping the ones that could be remote-activated. 175 torpedoes continued towards the rear of the human battle-line, unconcerned with the death they were causing, and unperturbed by the weapons fire that was being unleashed by the remaining vessels.

The Destroyers made their decision within the next moments, and began to accelerate towards the cloud, before taking up position over their flight-path. With a scream of exhaust-trails, they unloaded their missile-tubes, and activated the dormant warheads the others had left. Once the missiles were clear, they began to enter codes into their consoles, and self-destructed. Within a rapidly-expanding yellow-golden sphere of fusion detonation, the ships disappeared, taking the advancing wave of plasma torpedoes with them and sparing the lives of their comrades.

1,000 missiles roared towards the Covenant lines, as both sides released their ground transports, and continued to fire and manoeuvre against each other.

 **-Most Epic Action Music / Killer Tracks – Steady Triumph END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Axelay – Unkai START-**

Solid Snake stood upon the bridge of the _**Socrates-Class**_ DropShip, keeping an eye on the various consoles within, as the small fleet of transports burned for **Ottumwa's** atmosphere. In their way, off to the side, was the Covenant's vessels, heavily engaged with the Human Fleet. The ships flashed in the far-off distance, completely out of the way of their flight-path, but he kept a wary eye upon the console that displayed the fleets even as they made their way to the planet below.

Coming into contact with the Covenant's own landing contingent making a supply run, the DropShip witnessed a transport ship emerging from the cloudy and shrouded atmosphere.

"Shit! Evasive manoeuvre's navigation, comm's relay to the other ships to break formation!" Snake bit out rapidly, as he gripped the railing of the dais overseeing the command centre. The subordinates complied quickly, giving an "Aye, Sir!" back in respect, while carrying out the orders. With the message relayed, the DropShips separated, and began to move in differing patterns to avoid the oncoming Covenant ship.

The Covenant's vessel, being a transport, was poorly armed compared to the warships their empire possessed and was only carrying a bevy of pulse-lasers for defence. Not being able to hurt the DropShips, they were designed for anti-fighter roles in mind, being capable of shredding _**Seraphs**_ or Aerospace fighters. Firing en masse at the descending, and well armoured, ovoid egg-like ships of the humans they vented impotent fury in this process... As their weapons only pocked the armour of the human ships.

Snake ordered the flotilla to open fire with their own guns, and several light naval-calibre weapons began to open fire, sending rounds, laser and PPC towards the enemy. The rounds were severely under-strength compared to what was being thrown around, even by the Destroyer-screens, and thus only made the enemies shields glow bright.

Passing each other by, they fired at each other, exchanging glares of dominance. The Covenant ship continued on, vectoring to refuel and resupply with the Supercarrier, it's shield shimmering back into invisibility as it recharged with pinch-fusion energy.

Snake nodded, and turned to the comm's operator.

"All ships are to burn hard for the surface, we don't want them coming back with something larger." The other commanders agreed, and soon began red-lining their drives to plunge into the atmosphere. Entering it within the next minute, they missed the far-off _**CSO**_ begin to reorient itself, after they started opening fire upon the supply ship.

With a searing burst of fusion-compressed plasma that streaked across the void, and struck one of the DropShips upon the upper decks, blasting right through with a silvery-white burst and sharp bursting noise. Snake's eye widened in alarm, as his _**Socrates-Class**_ rocked from the impact, three consoles exploding from electrical surges. Immediately, the DropShip ceased it's own power, and began to list into it's descent, having reached the planets gravity well while accelerating until it was hit.

"Get everyone out now. All who are assigned to my mission, get on the SheVa!" Snake gritted through his comms, as he ordered the evacuation, and sprinted down the hall. Running through corridors, up and down hallways, and through a maze of grey steel Snake arrived at the hangar.

Eyeing the super-tank, as he ran down a set of stairs, he pondered how to get to the surface with his asset and live. Looking at the pods around it, he thought on their landing abilities, thinking on how to improve their survivability. Sprinting to an entrance, he began to climb the ladder to the tanks internals.

"Sir, all Spartans loaded and ready." Stated the leader of Red Team, designated -04 for this mission, as he caught up to his side. Snake nodded.

"Good. We're going to need all of our comrade's reaction-time and inherent skills, to ensure we don't pancake ourselves. Get everyone ready for a close-range explosion, and make sure we're all strapped in." With a nod, Red-04 began running down a corridor, and relayed orders to the other Spartans as he took up position in the Ammunition room. Snake pushed himself, sweat apparent upon his brow, as he began feeling the DropShip accelerate into the planets atmosphere. A vessel with the capability to lift 100,000 tonnes surrendered to the planets grasp, even as Snake ran into the bridge.

"All stations, prepare for danger-close fire, and strap-in. We're going to be dropping like a 3,000 tonne brick into hell from here on out!" The old soldier ordered, and motioned for the comm's to relay.

"Right away sir!"

Strapping himself to the seat with a harness, Snake addressed the gunnery-control. "With a 0.01 kilo-tonne antimatter round, blow us an exit in this pop-stand, Lieutenant Commander!"

The armoured Spartan nodded, and began putting the SheVa through it's loading cycle, even as he acknowledged the order with an "Understood Councillor."

" **Ares** , start-up the reactor and get the treads ready to move, prep the landing pods!" He barked to his AI, who materialized in a vicious-looking suit of jagged armour, red-eyes peering out from his spiked helm. The AI bowed slightly, and held up two balls of digital flame, that resolved into the status of the two pieces of equipment. The mighty and large reactor within the SheVa lit up, with a crystalline-black substance igniting into a blue ball of energy, resembling a sun. The landing systems prepared their ion engines, and prepped the sensors for their altitude-sensitive deployments.

With a roar of gunfire, the SheVa's cannon unloaded a 16-inch round across the hanger upon the DropShip's wall, and looked on as the mesmerizing glow of actinic-white antimatter erupted in fury where it hit. Annihilating the section of hull that it pulverized into, the antimatter ripped a 100-foot wide hole, of nearly equal circumference in it's armour.

"Get us out of hear nav! Overdrive as fast as you can!" Snake ordered, with the navigation answering "Yes Sir!", as the massive tank groaned and made a screeching noise as the treads began accelerating against the metal deck at a rapid pace. The SheVa swerved from side to side, as it's 160,000 Horsepower motor powered put torque upon the massive wheel and tread mechanisms, the metal-on-metal contact raising from screeches to a wailing scream that vibrated throughout the hangar. Before they knew it, the tank accelerated forward with a wrenching jagged dash, and drove at the hole with it's massive bulk.

Roaring forward, the tank accelerated down the hangar's length, and leapt into the cold thin air of **Ottumwa's** atmosphere. Their acceleration petering out, the entire tank began to nose-dive, and before long they were hurtling glacis-plate first to the icy surface. With a few bursts of fiery energy, the ion thrusters began to manoeuvre the tank, so it would be flat and break their fall. Once in place, the thrusters lit up with more energy, and began to slow the massive tanks descent.

"Sir, we've got incoming, from the planets surface." One of the Spartans, the sensor-operator, reported.

"Show me." Solid Snake gritted out, as he pulled a cigar from a pocket, lighting the cancer-stick up. The Spartan nodded, and pressed a few keys, before a screen popped up.

A fleet of Seraphs, inbound from the valley's fortress.

"Start the loading of the RAC's, get everyone to each turret, and defend those landing pods with everything we have! Otherwise, we go from brick to meteor..." The man said grimly, observing the incoming craft. The Lt. Commander nodded alongside the comm's operator, and orders were relayed as the weapons began their loading cycles, with thousands of rounds funnelling into place in the hoppers and belt-feed.

The tanks defences filled with men and women of the Spartan-Branch, even as the _**Seraph's**_ bore down upon them and their DropShip compatriots. Nary a minute passed, before the enemy interceptors came upon their position, and the RAC turrets opened up, spewing thousands of rounds of plasma accelerated slugs at the deadly Covenant fighters.

Gatling barrels spinning rapidly, the turrets followed and spewed rounds at the interrupting hostiles. Around 17 of them grouped to take various pass's, with the cannons firing upon them as they rushed the airborne SheVa. Taking fire, they received large calibre rounds in rapid-fashion, stitching across their shields. Taking rapid damage, the enemy still fired upon their targets, and one of the ion-engine thrusters exploded in a shower of blue-fire and energy.

Listing slightly, the tank wobbled, and slid rapidly through the air to the left side of the horizon. Covering kilometre's before they stabilized, the tank shuddered as it fought off the annoying birds buzzing about it.

"Tell the turret-gunners to concentrate their fire upon those groups! Deflection-fire, en masse!" Snake grit out, as he ordered the gunners to lead their prey a bit more, and try to place walls of lead in their path. The method called for a fair amount of coordination, which the Spartans had, and a lot of educated guesswork as to _where_ the fighters would be in the few seconds ahead of that moment. The Spartans complied, and coordinated better the second time around, driving off the enemy strafing runs which menaced the ion emergency landing thrusters.

The staccato-report of the lawnmower guns cut through the atmosphere, raining vengeance upon the enemy as they attempted to blow them out of the sky. The rounds from the rotary autocannons busted down the shields of the _**Seraph's**_ this time, and stitched weapons-fire across their hall, leaving neat fist-sized-and-above holes. The alien fighterplanes vectored in, attempting to fire upon the protruding pods, but were driven off by the heavier and more accurate fire this time around.

Retreating, they gathered into one large swarm, as the tank continued to hurtle to the planet below. Circling around in a few swift manoeuvre's, they then charged en masse from above the SheVa, at the bulbous engine mounted on it's front-left portion. Rocketing down, they opened fire far before they thought they would be in range from the rotary weapons. Anti-air weapons on the tanks deck and turret opened up, but the fighters kept firing dodging, while driving at the landing mechanism.

 _ **Seraph's**_ died even as they charged, it becoming a suicide run once they began getting closer, shredding their ranks. However, even as their numbers dwindled, their determination did not. One fighter remained before they knew it, and the pilot made sure to keep his course maintained no matter how much damage he sustained, smashing into the landing pod with a spectacular explosion of different metals, systems, and reactors blowing to pieces as they were melded together at extreme-high-speed.

With a shudder and a groan, the tank nose-dived once more, accelerating towards the surface once more. Within moments, a screeching sound was heard, and Snake looked around. **Ares** wordlessly held up a video showing the engines shearing off the back as they strained to lift the take all by themselves.

"Sir, what do we do now?" Questioned the Spartan managing the navigation systems. Snake grinned, as he looked over at the Lt. Commander.

"It is now the Commanders turn to steer." Lifting his bracer even as confusion seemed to reign among the still Spartans, he began typing a few things into it.

" **Ares** , find me a nearby body of water." He ordered his AI, who began to display hundreds of topographical maps, which he browsed in nanoseconds, before producing a map that included a larger area surrounding the original landing site. Circled, was a small lake, in a geographical depression. **Ares** threw up a picture of it's ice, and motioned the sword to the thick layer.

Snake nodded, agreeing. They would have to make a hole, or suffer damage hydraulic shock damage from impacting the ice.

"Prep a few rounds Lt. Commander. We are a little off target, and need to reorient ourselves before we land." The Spartan nodded, and turned the turret 90° left, before letting a massive 16" shell loose from the barrels cannon. Newtonian Laws enacted, and the recoil from the rounds acceleration sent the tank hurtling to the right. The Lt. Commander fired a few more rounds, jerking the tank across the sky, as the icy landscape filled their eyesight. Soon, the Councillor held up his hand for the Spartan to stop.

"Alright Spartan. We are on-target now, you just need to wait for the ice on the ground to get in range now." The old soldier ordered calmly, body prepared for the impact awaiting them.

The surface got closer, bringing into view the craggy lines of mountains and valleys.

Hills were now visible, and the Spartans waited calmly, as the rolling mounds of ice and snow accelerated into their view.

Now, the ice upon the lake was becoming discernible, cracks and patterns evident upon it's surface.

"FIRE NOW!" Snake yelled, and the Lt Commander fired the cannon, depressing the firing stud. With a shudder, the SheVa's turret belched a 16" round, which hurtled to the icy surface of the lake. A massive flash of white energy erupted, and sent a wave of water splashing outwards, before the titanic SheVa impacted the lake with a thunderous rapport. Water exploded from the point-of-impact, blasting outwards and upwards in a chaotic spray.

 **-Axelay – Unkai END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Star Wars – Droid Invasion/Trade Federation March Suite (Theme) START-**

The other DropShips fought through the fighter attacks, and reached the surface without major incident, as they begin to deploy their troops.

Forming a square perimeter, they cordoned the area off in this side of the ice valley, disgorging their vehicle's in rapid-succession. A certain Sgt. Major John Forge was directing the traffic and issuing orders as everyone moved into place.

"Get those Defence Towers setup!"

"I want that MCV unpacked, 5 minutes ago son!"

"Put those supplies over there, we'll deal with them after this is set up."

And so on.

Soon, a place for aircraft was set up, and Gunships began landing one by one. Tanks assembled in their own pool, and soldiers formed up by temporarily constructed barracks.

Forge scrolled through the force-allocation list he had received from Councillor Snake, glancing around at the huge and looming crystalline peaks surrounding them, praying they didn't cause an avalanche while occupying the valley. The mountains were big enough, and menacing enough to easily release a fury that could bury them all, DropShip's included. Most wouldn't think about that, but the Sgt. Major took into consideration that which more junior soldiers wouldn't, his vast experience in the extreme climes across the Inner Sphere giving him knowledge enough to assess the terrain.

The base bustled about, as the MCV unpacked, and started aiding in the construction of the temporary fort they were building. Prefabbed critical parts and components flowed to the MCV, and it constructed whatever they needed to defend or set themselves up for the time being.

Bringing up his bracer again, Forge pulled up the terrain the Covenant occupied. Observing what they had set up within the last week, he noticed several things.

One, they had more air-strips than he did, although most were absent. _"From fighting us I bet."_

Two, they were using heavy equipment of some sort to drill into the mountainside, as heavy tracks led to a fair amount of melted and reformed ice which looked unnaturally formed compared to it's surroundings.

Three, they had a couple dozen _**Scarab**_ hangers.

This would be interesting.

Immediately, he began to send out a handshake protocol for a channel to open up, while keeping his bracers display up.

" _Pelican-Leader here, what do you need Sgt. Major?"_ Came a voice over the comm, as a figure in a set of flight-armour resolved itself on the geographical-layouts left. Forge pointed at the map, directing the pilots attention to it, and began to explain.

"As you can see, the Covenant have set up a significant base, with plenty of forces to spare. I need a bombing and strafing run now, while their air-power is out in space trying to decide the naval battle. This way they will be forced to stay in space, with nowhere to land. As well, you can destroy the remainder that just landed to repair and refuel from assaulting us in the atmosphere." The pilot followed along, nodding at Forge's orders, before saluting.

" _Yes sir, we'll see it done."_

"Oh, and if you can corporal, take out some of those _**Scarab's**_. I'm not keen on leaving them in the hands of a commander whose as competent as this one, even if he is in space, considering he could be controlling both forces from his ship. No, it's better to shoot first and worry later in this case." The Sgt. said, with the Corporal nodding, and cutting the transmission as he went to carry out his duty.

Forge nodded, before turning around and heading to their MCV-turned-Command Centre, observing the machines moving about. Mech's marched about, getting into their formations. Tanks rolled by, and formed up into massive squares. Infantry marched into their groups, and stood crisply at the ready. It then that the Air Force contingent took off, dozens and dozens of _**Pelican**_ Gunships ascending into the sky.

The Pelicans grouped up into a swarm, and tilted their engine nozzles, until one by one racing forward. Keeping a close-to-nape altitude, they accelerated with their quadruple-chambered fast-pumping fusion repulsors, blasting over the crisp and reflective countryside. The icy terrain whizzed by, blurring underneath their acceleration, the enemy base coming up to their view at a very fast pace. Flicking a comm on, the leader of the flight brought his fellow commanders into a conference-call.

" _This is Pelican-Lead. All wings, how copy?"_

" _Pelican-Green Flight-Leader here, good across the board, Pelican-Lead."_

" _Pelican-Yellow Flight-Leader reporting all clear for engagement."_

" _Pelican-Blue Flight-Leader present, and ready to dish out some Covvie hurt."_

" _Pelican-Red Flight-Leader ready and waiting for orders."_

" _Pelican-Lead reads all green. Green Flight-Leader, you and Yellow Flight will head to the_ _ **Scarab**_ _pens. Blue, Red, your wings focus on the anti-air defences. Lead squad will take the airfields."_ The pilot said, as their forces burned towards the Covenant's base. Receiving an affirmative, they each split-off in their own direction to each objectives.

Now over the base, the _**Pelicans**_ let rip with their load of CAS(Close Air Support) weapons, firing 75mm gauss-accelerated rounds into the bases streets alongside Streak SRM's. Large lasers, pulse-lasers, and PPC spitting bolts of energy, which rained upon the aliens as they flew overhead. Weaving in and out of the tall spires that the base was constructed from, the Pelican-Leader directed weapons-fire upon the static Covenant positions, letting loose will all the firepower he had available.

The aircraft swooped and zoomed through the Covenant buildings, as Unggoy and Kig'Yar died by the dozens, killing everything in their path with a cluster of powerful weapons, blasting everything before them. Bolts of energy slashed their positions, lighting up the Unggoy defending the complexes, as the craft streaked by. Hundreds of ballistic rounds ripped up patrols and those in the open.

The attacking craft accelerated into it's run, dodging weapons-fire, weaving through buildings and such. The Pelican-Lead soon came upon the air-fields, and their various platforms, where rushing Unggoy and Kig'Yar were struggling to get their supplies and fuel to the ships so they could engage the humans forces. Caught with their pants down, the Covenant's forces were unprepared for the vicious air-strike, and didn't have any sort of defences against the assault(individually, there were still air-defences).

The _**Pelican**_ Gunships tore into the fields, missiles splashing down as they overflew the air-strips, Lasers and PPC lashing out as the parked **_Phantoms_** and _**Spirits**_. Their 75mm shells from the chin-mounted Autocannon roared out in great multitudes, spraying the landing area with fist-sized chunks of supersonic metallic fire. Unggoy and Kig'Yar died as they ran for cover, and tried to get explosive fuel out of the way, becoming casualties just by being present amongst the hazards of weapons-fire, exploding metal, and combustible canisters of fuel.

Finishing up their run, the Pelicans began to climb altitude, and return to base.

 **-Star Wars – Droid Invasion/Trade Federation March Suite (Theme) END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Donkey Kong Country Music – Northern Hemisphere ~ Snow Mountain START-**

OO3, James Robinson, checked his gear again, as he waited for his mission-leader to finish with his arm-bracer.

"Your gear good there OO3?" The old soldier asked, not moving his head the slightest to indicate he was paying attention to the OO, as he studied the projection.

"Yes sir. Just a little apprehensive." James gripped his rifle, and stared down at the western part of the Covenant base, how it disappeared into the glacier. Standing at quite a high vantage point, the OO was greeted with a view that beheld nearly the whole valley. The glacier formation that surrounded it was too high to see over at the moment, the two having trekked to a point where they could make an assessment of the tunnelling.

"Understandable. On my first sensitive-Intel mission, I was wracking my nerves the entire time. You just can't show it, otherwise _they'll_ know and your done for."

"Never let them see us bleed, and the like sir?" Snake nodded, grinning lightly.

"Exactly. Can't let the enemy know you are confused, dazed, homesick, and afraid as they are, or your element of either momentum or surprise ends." Snake turned off his bracer with a click, gesturing with his other hand down the mountainside.

"Let's get going. The action is heavy upstairs, and we don't want to drag our feet." Snake began to move at a double-time pace, making sure to properly balance himself as he increased speed.

"Quite right sir." James said, and followed him.

"Camouflage on." With that, the two shimmered out of view, their armour both producing an effect that would fool enemies and scanners visually. Running down the mountain, they impacted the ice and snow heavily but swiftly, and with nary a sound from their well-placed steps. The camp got closer and closer, until they were directly over the entrance-way. Robinson and Snake laid themselves into a prone position, and one took out a sniper rifle, while the other retrieved some bino's.

"I spot... 40+ foot mobiles working, another 50+ defending the cordon they have established, and 4 _**Wraith**_ Tanks." Robinson spoke in a whisper, next to his invisible superior.

"Seen. I also count 20+ inside that guardhouse to the right." Snake said, and James pulled his rifle's scope over to the location, noticing that there were indeed Unggoy and Kig'Yar inside milling about.

" _Mess Hall?"_ The OO thought, as they continued to survey the camp.

After a few minutes of silence, Snake spoke up once more.

"Alright. I don't want any noise in this operation, and I think we can find out what they were doing down there. We head down through the slope, and maintain our distance from each other, slipping into the tunnels. From there, we find the central chamber, if this place has one. Let's move." With a small rustle of scraping ice, the two got back to a vertical base, and proceeded to begin their way down the slope.

Taking their greatest need of balance, they sprinted down the glacier, spraying bits of ice behind them as their boots dug into the terrain. Running with grace and speed they charged down-range, their vision full of the powerful reflective glare of blue-tinted sunlight bounding off the glacier. Caused to reflect off the myriad surfaces, it painted the alcove in the area a lot of brilliant shades, the ice sparkling as it was illuminated by the sun's beams.

Arriving at the ground-level, the two wheeled quickly, and sprinted into the tunnel. Dodging through the working Covenant, they kept to the overall-left of the area, as there was large vehicles go in and out through the centre. Running through the groups of milling aliens, the two looked on as the hallway opened up into a semi-metallic Grand Hall, with machinery and metal poking out of the walls.

Heading for a predetermined hall and shaft, the two veered off to the right, where there was a series of hallways descending downwards and outwards. Picking the left-side one, the Super-Soldiers sprinted down the shafts path, denoting it's shard twists and turns. Soon, they emerged into a spot where the hall overlooked an underground chasm. Looking outside to the right and left, they discovered a ledge that led off to the right, and around a curve. Shouldering their weapons, they flattened out their forms, and began to shuffle with haste upon the icy surface.

Travelling for around a minute, they arrived at a descending ice staircase.

"Damn ziggurats." Commented James, as he observed the icy path. Snake, still invisible, looked over at the Agent with an amused brow as he stared around the room. The OO could feel his eyes, and opted to begin descending the stairway. Walking down the soft-blue icy stairs, James unslung his rifle, and kept a weather eye out for any enemies. A short few flights, and they were in a small chamber, that was accessible from outside the staircase and it's four huge ice-pillars.

 **-TAC-**

"I am not picking up anything on my scanners, so we can disengage our cam now." Snake stated, as he came into view slowly, while pressing depressing a switch on his bracer. James deactivated his, and slowly melted into visual range.

"Scan shows that the Forerunner energy readings... Are in this direction." Snake said while reading off information from his bracer, pointing to the back-left corner of the room in accordance with their position. The OO nodded his head, and turned along with the old soldier, as they headed in it's direction.

Walking through a short hallway, they were introduced to somewhat larger-than-normal room, which held an ice pedestal in the centre of the room. Surveying the room with their rifle-scopes, looking for decorations, hieroglyphs, and ancient runes. Coming to the centre of the chamber, they looked it up-and-down, trying to find anything special about it.

It was un-embossed, and rather plain, the only thing special about it being it's ridged and pillar-like construction. The 384 fine points of ridged ice upon it's circumference caught the light, sparkling in the light, and glowed a myriad of the rainbows colours. No other special details were present, thus, they approached it carefully.

"Power-signatures increasing... It's definitely the source." Snake stated, as he slung his rifle, and walked up to the crystalline pedestal. Raising a gloved hand, James watched as his armour seemed to retract smoothly over his limb, almost melting away and exposing his naked flesh. Placing a palm upon the surface, it immediately reacted to Snake's touch, glowing softly with a dull-whitish light.

Then the thing produced a ball of blue light, with thousands of hieroglyphs.

Snake turned to Robinson.

"Call Forge, order the attack. We need Anders here, and now." The grizzled old commander ordered, and Robinson found himself acting on autopilot, as the humorous and easygoing soldier, was replaced with a hardened commander whose very presence begat respect from his peers.

 **-Donkey Kong Country Music – Northern Hemisphere ~ Snow Mountain END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Donkey Kong Country OST 9 Aquatic Ambience START-**

Forge nodded along, as the OO Agent of _**MI6**_ gave his assessment, of the cave and it's defences. Alongside the Pelican-Leaders report, he had a pretty good idea of their defences, and was nearly ready to order an assault.

"Alright, I'll give you two ten minutes to get out of there Robinson, no telling if it will become unstable when we start fighting." The two soldiers nodded, winking out, and preparing to go about their business.

Forge relayed a series of orders, and the _**SLDF**_ ground forces began to assemble their troops, pulling every unit into position to support their brethren. Tanks surrounded BattleMechs, APC's bringing up the rear, with powerful Missile-tank artillery. The power armoured troops embarked upon their transports, getting situated inside the durable and spacious troop carriers, as each picked up a squad. Mech's walked into assigned positions, as they rallied and waited for all the soldiers to arrive.

Eventually, as he was watching all of this, Forge got the confirmation that the Super-Soldiers were free and clear from the caves, and were heading back to their asset. They had recommended Dr. Anders examine the sight, before going off to try and do whatever it was they needed to accomplish. Forge didn't know what they were trying to do, and just focused upon the task at hand.

"All units, begin advancing." He said, as he clambered upon the commanders spot in an Assault-Tank, ordering the army to roll-out.

The sizable contingent began the transition to motion, surging into a rumbling wave of steel, myomer, and glass advancing upon the Covenant Base. Ramping up their speed, the host held to the slowest unit's minimum safe running pace, keeping up a brisk 45 km/h. Trampling the local terrain, they chopped up the ice as they went, sending sprays of chips up within their wake. The human army ran through the valley, aiming for a bend in the way ahead, as the glacier formation made a natural curve in the terrain.

The cliff-sides casted shadows upon the advancing force, the area darker and thinner than the rest f the valley, by a fair margin. Continuing to advance, the contingents centre units sped up so they could get through the pathway, before the units in the flanks were bottlenecked behind them. The Mech's and Tanks proceeded along, in a group of single-filed parties, keeping their eyes about them as they advanced through the valley.

Apprehension filling their bodies, the soldiers trained their weapons wildly upon the cliff walls, keeping their eyes searching for enemy presence. Finding none, the troops advanced tersely and quickly through the narrow gap, and emerged into a gradually ascending plane. Their units began to file out to the left and right, forming the armies ranks and layers again. APC's disembarked powered-armoured troops, while maintaining vigil amongst them.

Around half the force was through, when they were interrupted by enemy fire. A white-blue beam of plasma washed over a _**Rifleman-D**_ , as it exited the necked pathway, cracking the cockpit open and killing the pilot with ease at it's level of firepower. Forge looked up the plains and spotted a _**Scarab**_ , a few _**Scarabs**_ , hunched down just over the lip of the plains.

" _Not a bad tactic."_ He thought, as the enemy used their units to snipe those emerging from the cliff pathway, settling in for a long-range bombardment.

"All units currently on this side of the pathway, advance to contact and get rid of those enemy super-heavies, units making their way through right now... Continue your current route, and reinforce both sides of the army as you come through." The Sgt. Major ordered, as he gave the signal for an advance.

The human host began speeding up, pushing the output of their reactors, rushing the enemies position from the flanks. The _**Scarabs**_ opened fire, blasting away with their plasma-energy, destroying more Mech's with every salvo. Launching nearly five salvo's of attacks, the enemy machines were successful in taking down nearly 60 Mech's, as they surged towards the Covenant's base. Eventually, the human forces were in range to attack, and began to light up with multitudes of laser-discharges, proton/ion emissions, gauss slugs, and streak missiles with their compact and deadly charges.

A wave of fire blasted the nearest _**Scarab**_ in the, removing great chunks of metal from it's "face", sending it caroming to it's left. The _**Scarab**_ still ended up firing, and blasted a beam off to the side, ending up slicing the leg off of the giant metal quadruped to it's left. Capitalizing upon this mistake, the humans fired into both offset machines, bringing their fire upon the legs of the sprawling beasts.

Cutting into them with massed firepower, the weapons of the Mech's and Tanks shredded the two _**Scarabs**_ front legs, bringing them down upon their faces with a shrieking groan. The two metal giants groaned, and smashed into the hardened ground, sending showers of sparkling ice through the air.

The human artillery began to unload it's massed payload of missile's upon the unsuspecting other beasties, as they moved to power their weapons, and fire upon the the units that had just brought down the other _**Scarab's**_. Missiles began to ignite their engines, streaming from their racks in multitudes, as they zeroed in upon the Covenant's super-heavy units. Leaving trails of exhaust, the missiles screamed through the air, buzzing angrily into the bulk of the metal giants trying to gut their army.

The hundreds of missiles slammed into the superstructure's of the machines, rocking and shaking them, as they lost power and collapsed from the furious fire. Within seconds, they were beginning to go critical, as the two in the centre exploded. The explosion of plasma lit up the axis-of-advancement with bright concentrated light, illuminating the entire surrounding area with it's brilliance. Beginning to order the advance again, Forge pulled a pair of bino's from the cupola, and looked into the distance for any other emerging threats.

"Get our Mech's to root out any armoured units. Send our tanks and powered armour troops into the rest of the encampment, and clear any remaining aliens." The Sgt. Major ordered over the comm-channel.

The Mech's headed inside the base, and began firing upon the heavily armoured hangar's for the Covenant's ground vehicles. Their weapons tore apart the buildings housing the units, blasting them with lasers, PPC, and Gauss. Their weapons-fire tore into their surroundings, bringing down building after building, as they trampled underfoot the hollering and hooting aliens that inhabited the base. Emerging with a series of thumps, a few _**Scarab's**_ emerged from their hangars, and walked down the avenue to the charging enemy.

Meeting the Mech's firepower with their own, the machines sprayed their deadly plasma-energy upon the powerful machines, as their armour struggled to compensate. Ferro-Fibrous strained and blistered, before boiling away in great amounts, as the high-intensity wash of plasma blasted over them. The Mech's in the way perished quickly, their torso being blasted into a smoking ruin, taking out a handful of Mech's with each barrage.

Killing nearly 24 of the powerful machines in minutes, the machines swaggered forward with impunity.

Then one by one, the missile-artillery of the humans targeted and slammed into the giant metal beasts, raining compact death upon their smooth metallic-purple bodies. The barrage of missile fire hammered in, a horde of LRM's that smashed the Scarab's into the ground, breaking most of their super-structures and preventing them from rising again as their reactors went critical.

Blowing up, they took a fair amount of machines with them, even as the incoming Mech's streamed into the pen and fired en masse upon the multitudes of other slowly-activating units the Covenant had.

The tanks and powered-armour units ran rampantly throughout the base, firing and manoeuvring if they were caught up in a strong-point engaging Covenant, and running over those they could. Wreaking havoc and dealing death as they rampaged along, the tank groups blasted away any defensive weaponry, with the rapid-fire high-powered rifles taking out multitudes of their troops.

On point artillery took out any of their more troublesome concentrations of the enemy, dealing mass death to them in a way where they couldn't return fire to the sources, terrifying the Covenant as they were struck by the missile-bombardments.

Forge looked around, as they cleaned out the Covenant base.

"All boys and girls. We don't have too long, so let's get to it." He ordered over the comms as they surveyed the various buildings and Covenant structures.

 **-Donkey Kong Country OST 9 Aquatic Ambience END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Sagat Theme SNES START-**

Captain Cutter watched, as the massive barrage of missiles released by the dieing Destroyer-screen made their way across the void, now making their way to the targets after more a few long minutes travel. Cutter was now counting on the missiles to make a significant punch, to take out at least half of the enemy, considering he was going to be out-numbered soon. His Cruisers were long gone, having died a quick death shortly after the Destroyers, and now he was trading punches in a fashion that he really desired not too.

Grimacing as an enemy struck their ship, he grabbed his command-chair hard, as the entire ship shook from the impact.

"Serina, report!" He asked tersely, realizing a plasma round had just impacted.

" **Plasma torpedo impact upon decks A-12 to A-9 and down through to D-Deck. Countermeasures engaged, and the torpedoes mass negated itself once it was burned out inside the hull. Unfortunately, the personnel from those sections were killed instantly."** Serina stated, as she went through damage reports and assessments by the sensors.

"Understood. Get fire-control teams there ASAP, and have the engineers accompany them and see what they can do about reinforcing our penetrated deck. Best to have the two groups coordinate." The Captain said, as he watched more weapons-fire get exchanged between the two fleets.

The massive _**Dreadnought**_ fired it's main cannon again, hurling a 600-tonne slug of ferric-uranium death towards the Covenant, even as it's other weapons lit with continuous energy-weapons fire. The massive slug tore through space as sub-relativistic speeds, and slammed into a _**CCS**_ class, blasting a section of it to scrap as the failing shield emitters ceased resistance, and the round pulverized a section of the ship. Tearing deep into the vessel, it began to flicker it's lights, indicating rapid-fluctuations in the power-distribution units. The vessels lights flared brightly one last time before failing, and listed as the ship lost it's power.

Within seconds, the lasers and PPC smashed into the hapless ship, tearing into it with dozens of emerald slurries of photons and the bright sapphire-blue of protons and ions. Spattering across the bulk of the Covenant ship, they ripped deep into it over and over, until the ship broke apart with it's super-structure carved to pieces.

The Aerospace contingent had been struggling to make an impact for a while now, as the Seraphs were getting their number, and splashing more than handful at a time became a difficult matter. The fighters ran strafing patterns over the surface of the enemy ships, but couldn't get too close, because of the massed pulse batteries of the supply ship, it driving them off every time. Going on a determined run, the Aerospace fighters had formed up and charged the vessel. This proved to be a poor decision, as high-powered and rapid anti-air fire came their way, decimating their numbers. Successful in bringing it's shields down, and significantly damaging the ship, they nonetheless vectored back to the _**Spirit of Fire**_ , due to their high amount of loss's.

The _**CSO**_ Supercarrier let loose with the Energy-Projector it was infamous for, and this time, hit the _**Dreadnought**_ square in the centre of it's bow. Compressed plasmatic fury halted for a few seconds, as the thickest most precisely formulated armour belt humanity had ever put on a ship, fought against the titanic power of super-compressed ionized bolts of plasma at lightspeed. Puncturing after a nail-biting moment, the beam rampaged through the mighty ship, tearing it apart from the insides. Once again, human technology proved powerless before something that was greater' fury. The plasma continued to push through the vessel, as miniature explosions blasted out of fissures that rent themselves in seconds upon the mighty ships armour. Penetrating the secondary belt, the ships magazine was instantly ignited, as megatonne-level firepower burst into it's housing.

 **KRAK**

The Terran **_Dreadnought_** split in half, as it's contained fury was let loose, the reactor erupting alongside the munitions inside the bowels of the vessel.

Cutter bowed his head at the passing of comrades, and looked back up.

With an almighty burst of fury, the missile barrage let it's massive power rip free of their casings, having reached the Covenant lines. The flare of several dozen fusion-detonations brought a smile to Cutter's face, being completely beleaguered by this point.

Streaking into the Covenant lines, they overwhelmed the Pulse-Lasers the ships possessed, and exploded in great multitudes. Blasting apart with uncountable explosions, the _**Killer-Whale-C's**_ unleashed their huge payloads upon the enemies shields and vessels. Shaped charges of enormous size, MIRV(Multiple Independent Reentry capable Vehicle) compact explosives, and Pure Fusion Warheads(PFW's) erupted against the aliens energy-shields.

Hammering them down with the massive amount of explosives in the assault, the PFW's did the rest of the work, bursting their shields like bubbles.

The smoke and debris began to clear, and Cutter saw their was no remaining ships on the enemies side.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he brought up Serina's avatar on his bracer.

"Get Forge to get what we need and get out here. Inform Councillor Solid Snake that we appear to have eliminated the threat." He said wearily to the AI, who nodded as he slumped into his chair, and pulled-and-lit a Sweet William. Taking a deep pull, he exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"I haven't been this nerve-wracked in a long time."

 **-Sagat Theme SNES END-**

 _~Perspective shift~_

 **-Donkey Kong Country OST 13 Life in the Mines START-**

Forge and Doctor Anders were now present inside the cavern containing the pedestal. The Doctor was running a scanner over the hologram, muttering one thing or another, and Forge didn't mention it after he had accidentally said "crazy" just a little too loud, and gotten a data module beaned off his head.

Looking around, he smirked, before reaching down and picking up an alien object.

"Hey, how about one for the scrapbook, Professor?" He said with amusement in his voice, holding up the segment of destroyed power-cell with an armoured hand, his head visible because he had removed the suits helmet.

Anders sighed as she looked up, and fixed him with a semi-annoyed look.

"If you don't mind Forge, I'm trying to document this for study" Turning back to her camera, she scrutinized the lens, before her eyes widened as she caught something with her vision. A slight shimmer of air near one of the walls, almost like lines sliding over the ice-crystals own natural ridges. Gasping, she looked up, only to witness something massive moving under the cover of a cloak straight towards her.

With not even a second to gasp, the struggling woman found herself hoisted bodily into the air, with very little effort. An appendage that wasn't visible to the spectrum of light she could see and understand, gripped her throat severely, making it a fight to even breath. She had been taught how to endure situations like this, so instead of screaming out and robbing herself of what little air she had, the stubborn young genius held her breath with puffed cheeks as she stared defiantly towards whatever this was

"Alright, whatever you are, let's just drop the lady nice and slow..." Came the steely voice of the Sgt. Major from their left, Anders finding herself turned about rapidly, before seeing John approaching her from across the room.

"Now why don't we talk about this man to man?" Forge asked aloud to whatever held his compatriot up in the air.

" _ **As you wish!"**_ Came a harsh and guttural reply from air, before Anders found herself hurled bodily through the air, slamming into Forge's armours torso and sending her spinning off onto the floor.

Within a moment, the alien had moved to Forge's left, as he just barely witnessed a distortion moving across his vision and settling near his left shoulder. Eyes widening, even as he shook off Anders' impact, he felt a vicious blow snap his neck over to the left **hard**. Without even as second to recover from the two huge blows, he stumbled backwards over his feet, trying to regain his balance and stay in the fight.

Unlucky in this battle, he heard a loud _**FWASH**_ , just as he got his back leg in position to stop the fall.

Time seemed to slow.

As Forge brought his head back to his front, straining to get his weapon up and in use, he saw the flare of igniting gases erupt from an ornate sword-hilt as a magnificent and fixed set of plasma-created blades flashed into existence. Eyes widening, and an instant sweat bursting from his forehead, Forge remembered he was helmet-less right now. Driving his muscles, and jellied body(dummied twice already in this fight), Forge's muscles and tendons screamed in protest as they forced themselves over safe limits of power. His fight-or-flight bio-systems engaging and producing adrenaline that hyper-focused him, all John could do...

Was watch as the sword arced up into the air, and slashed across his chest.

Feeling cold, he barely heard Ellen's scream, as he fell heavily to his knees and numbly holding his chest.

As time continued to run slow to his perception, he watched as Anders went with the alien, blinking a few times and seeing here get farther and farther away...

 **-Donkey Kong Country OST 13 Life in the Mines END-**

 **BattleTech Wars**

 **Part 2:**

 **Ottumwa II**

 _~End~_

 **AUTHOR NOTE** :So, we come to the end of the sojourn in human space(for now), at the end of Part 2, and head to Covenant space in part three. Solid Snake is now going to have even more reason to hunt Wattinree down now, having taken Anders, and possibly killing(?) Sgt. Major John Forge... Things are going to continue at this pace, please read, follow, and review.

I know I write 10,000 word chapters, and they are filled with a lot of battle-description, with the story moving as they move. I want to maintain this pace, so I can properly describe the settings and fighting here, as I feel that the reader deserves a full-expose on what they would be experiencing if this was a movie or a video-game. That's why there's repetitive weapons-fire descriptions, this is why I try to heavily describe the environments and their wonder, and it's why I over-describe the body language and visual expressions of the characters.

Right now, we are just past the original "Arcadia" portion, and heading into Covenant space. One of the reasons we don't go to Arcadia here, in this story, is that Arcadia is very far away, and I'm trying to maintain a certain Axis-of Advance that the Covvies will hit, in preparation for the next story arc and ramping up to the first part of _**"The Fall of Reach"**_. My story, my universe, and my creative control lol, and as I stated in previous chapters, the Iso Didact conducted his own plan to aid the humans.

Each chapter holds sections of open-warfare, missions by single characters with only a few others, naval battles in space, and usually Aerospace combat. I like this asymmetrical style, and it gives visuals and immersive feel to the reader, as I'm always trying to make this all as visualize-able as possible within the confines of your imagination and mind. I do this, because I truly want you to feel as you are the character within that Mech just like in MechAssault and MechWarrior, I want you to be a Super-Soldier using his abilities to execute as many Covenant as possible so he can flee a Forerunner complex just like in Halo Legends, and most of all I want everyone to feel the thrill of charging through an airspace and dog-fighting while witnessing and wielding the power of heavily-armed StarShips. This is all done, to give an alternate to the official cannon's of the franchises I have assigned here.

If you could but give it a chance to take form, you won't be disappointed, I'm not going to forget anything or downplay anything. With regards to stuff like Stargate, any stuff beyond StarCraft, Halo, and a few independent franchises, is shelved until those two are complete. If anyone has significant knowledge of StarCraft, PM me so we could work on some ideas of what is to happen as right now I'm open to the shape the campaign could take over there.

Autocannon use plasma as a propellant, which they detonate in the barrels, I know I described this in the chapter, just wanted y'all to know why.

As a basis, I will let you know that the factions interacting with Koprulu are like nothing you've ever seen. The Megacorporations are far in advance of the Terrans, and could stand to challenge the Protoss and Zerg. You may think that is impossible, but Umbrella alone possesses a capital world that is part-Shadowrun, part Coruscant with huge and multi-tiered cities forming their civilization on the main planet. Their population has been artificially boosted so much, and they have their own Corporatocracy-Meritocracy, where the Corporation is the way of life. Their population is 880 Billion, as every generation since leaving Earth/Terra has been mandated to have 10 children, which the ruling body voted aid if they would aid the Megacorporations as they grew up. It grew from there, and was only aided when they fought the Mental/Sectoid Empire(Yes, the Sectoids from XCOMM are here, and they have been up to their usual high-jinks, it was just classified and buried once they beat off the final invasion and of course hushed up with all sorts of methods). I look forward to seeing various people's ideas on how I should handle this. I'll be open to ides until I write conclusion of the Halo Wars.

For example, Solid Snake flew the _**Axelay**_ experimental Fighter/Bomber against Mental's fleets. That's the level of tech we are talking.

Hope this clears up the chapter naming, and the styles

 **REVIEW SECTION!:**

 **Just a Crazy-Man** – Thanks dude, I am definitely aiming to keep it up here with the level of action and story. Have fun with the chapter, thanks for reviewing!

 **tanithlipsky** – Thank you for the positive review my friend. Hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks for reviewing!

 **Artyom-Dreizehn** – First off, thank you very much for your long and thorough review.

Second off, I ain't going nowhere, when punks need to shut it and read this awesomeness. Here's a new chapter to celebrate 100,000 words, with another 11,789!

This fic was started specifically as a multi-crossover with the intent of making a good one planned from the beginning, that is structured in a way that I can be inspired by multiple sources, and _ **ideas too awesome to not write**_. This way, I can't sleep for one night without thinking about Solid Snake flying the Raptor from Call of the Shadows, to nuke Omega Ranch with it's Deus Ex tech and experimental Caspar Drones.

I do think humanity may be able to work together, but here they specifically benefit from diversity, and see the horrors and damage rushed integration and runaway special-interest power groups.

This is what actually allows the Meritocratic Feudalism of the Inner Sphere to function, as people of this "new" time during BattleTech's years(until the fucking revisionists got at it, and have destroyed one of my favourite universes ever now!), as oaths, contracts, and declarations hold much greater weight in an age when it is extremely hard to lie. Now, the system has it's ups and downs, but see's a fair bit less amount of the overwhelming corruption we face currently nearly every day.

I've done my best constructing this fic to give me an unending set of mutating ideas, with the stories I've included. Now I admit, it takes a fair amount of Alien Space Bat level handwavium for this shit to fit together without consequence, but that is the fun of it for me. Don't worry about me discontinuing this story, I actually deleted most of my stories to focus on this super-project. The C&C story is still up, because it is something that is similar in content, and I can use it to sharpen my writing skills and editing as well. Thanks for reviewing my friend!

 **Guest** – The Stargate technology is in there, you may need to read the other timeline-entry chapters to see where it sits, and I've mentioned in the Codex already that it will take place after the Covenant Wars, Koprulu Sector and such. Thanks for reviewing!

Thanks again all, to those who reviewed. Good night, good luck, and peace be with you all!


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